MANILA-On the occasion of the Labor Day, Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada urged today the Aquino administration to go all out and aggressive in creating jobs for the graduates, unemployed and new entrants to the country’s labor force.
Sen. Estrada, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, said that economic growth coupled with intensive job generation and livelihood creation could be the best legacy of the administration as it completes its term in 2016.
“As the government has successfully posted remarkable economic growth in the past years, what needs to be done is to ensure that the growth trickles down to the people and the masses as real benefits such as jobs. This is again consistent with the administration’s pursuit of inclusive growth, one that leaves no one behind,” Jinggoy said.
According to the January 2014 Labor Force Survey, the national unemployment rate was recorded at 7.5%. The figure is higher compared to the national average unemployment rate recorded for 2013 at 7.1% and for 2012 at 7.0%.
Jinggoy further noted that in the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey for the Fourth Quarter of 2013, adult joblessness was at 27.5%, higher than that posted during the previous quarter at 21.7%. The adult joblessness rate is equivalent to 12.1 million unemployed Filipinos.
Sen. Estrada also called on the administration to recognize the optimism of the labor force with respect to future job availability and to actually realize this public expectation. Jinggoy cited the same SWS survey showing 40% of adults believe that the “number of available jobs in the next 12 months will increase.”
“Many of our people anticipate a continued economic expansion with more and better available jobs for all. But sadly, employment figures indicate that not much has changed in turning the state of joblessness around. I hope that the next years could be better,” Jinggoy said.
