THE country’s economic growth is helping attract more jobseekers back to the workforce, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
In a radio interview last Wednesday, Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma said the 8.2 gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter helped boost the interest of more individuals to look for work.
Among the applicants, he said, are new graduates as well as those who are jobless, but have not previously looked for work.
Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the labor chief said the higher GDP growth led to the number of unemployed workers in June to increase to 2.99 million from 2.93 million last May.
PSA defines the unemployed as those who have no work, currently available for work, and seeking work or not seeking work because of the belief that no work is available, or awaiting results of a previous job application, or because of temporary illness or disability.
“They are now looking for jobs since they now have hope of finding employment opportunities,” Laguesma said. He said DOLE will try to increase the employability of new applicants by providing job opportunities and the needed skills to qualify for such, in line with the marching orders of President Ferdinand R. Macos Jr.
The proposal, he said will be included in their Labor and Employment plan for 2023 to 2028, which they are crafting with other employment-generating agencies including the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and the Department of Tourism (DOT).
This will bring to realization “what President Bongbong Marcos mentioned in his SONA [State of the Nation Address], to lower the incidence of poverty to a single digit,” Laguesma said.
Your email address will not be published.
document.getElementById( “ak_js_1” ).setAttribute( “value”, ( new Date() ).getTime() );
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.