July unemployment reaches record-high 45.5% - survey

By Raadee Sausa August 23, 2020 (Photo from Investopedia) Adult labor force in July 2020 nearly half was jobless, survey says on Aug...

By Raadee Sausa
August 23, 2020

(Photo from Investopedia)

Adult labor force in July 2020 nearly half was jobless, survey says on August 16.

According to the National Mobile Phone Survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) from July 3 to 6, 2020, adult unemployment in the Philippines rose to 45.5 percent, a 28-point increase from 17.1 percent in December 2019, and a new record high from the 34.4 percent logged in March 2012.





The estimated number of jobless adults was at 27.3 million in July 2020 and 7.9 million in December 2019, the SWS added.

Survey also showed that the July 2020 adult labor force participation rate is at 86.4 percent for an estimated 60.0 million adults. This is an increase from 68.7 percent in December 2019 for an estimated 45.5 million adults.





The SWS defines the labor force as adults (18 years old and above) presently with a job or are looking for a job. The labor force participation rate is the proportion of adults in the labor force.

Adults who are jobless consists of those who had voluntarily left their old jobs, who are seeking jobs for the first time, or those who lost their jobs because of economic circumstances beyond their control.

Half of the respondents lost their jobs or livelihood during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, the survey says.

The other half of the unemployed said they lost their jobs before the pandemic hit the country.

The survey, conducted using a mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing of 1,555 adult Filipinos, also showed that those who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 crisis was highest in Balance Luzon (23 percent), followed by Visayas (19 percent), Mindanao (19 percent), and Metro Manila (18 percent).