LEGAZPI CITY – Chief Statistical Specialist Danilo Luceña of Philippine Statistics Authority Bicol Regional Statistical Services Office (PSA RSSO) implies that the 4.3% unemployment rate is considered to be a lower figure due to the reopening of various industries in the PH economy.
“Sa ngayon, tumataas ang employment natin kaya bumababa ang unemployment rate. Actually yang 4.3 is already lower, we are lowering the unemployment kasi nagbukas na ‘yung economy. Ibig sabihin, marami na din uli ang bumalik sa employment,” Luceña said in an interview with Bicol.PH.
Thus, despite the released stats from the national level, PSA RSSO Bicol claims that the region’s unemployment rate decelerated from 9.0% in 2021 to 4.4% in October 2022, which indicates that the magnitude of these figures came from the total number of unemployed individuals starting from the age of 15, pertaining to the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR).
“Sa Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR), 15 years old and above na pwede nang mainclude sa labor force. So 4.3 kaito na mga ready to be employed ang dae employed ngunyan,” Luceña added.
The latest provincial breakdown in October 2022 includes the estimate employment rate of 95.6% or about 2.29 million employed persons, initially higher compared to the 91.0% in October 2021.
Regardless of this, Luceña pointed out that PSA only generates numbers and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reviews and evaluates the said statistics to give sufficient critical analysis on certain economical concerns.
“Kami [ang] data provider [ng] NEDA. Kumbaga ang tawag nga sa amin taga-kwenta. Sila ang taga-kwento. NEDA tell stories about the numbers. We provide the numbers,” Luceña explained.
Hence, the chief statistical specialist highlights that these data are numbers prepared scientifically to be used by the country’s policy-makers, initially assuring the public that these numbers came from the right process.
“We are confident na the numbers na nirirelease namin talagang lagpas sa tamang process. Tsaka maraming inter-agency ang dinadaanan nito,” Luceña explained. | via Danica Roselyn Lim
Photos: Danica Roselyn Lim