JOBLESS RATE MISLEADING - CHIZ

Sen. Chiz Escudero said one must be careful when reading government figures on the Philippine jobless rate which can be deceiving.

"The unemployment situation in the Philippines is bleaker than the government would like to portray. It has mistakenly included among those gainfully employed the 4.21 million unpaid family workers, like sons who have dropped out of college to help till the soil and daughters who have to mind the small sari-sari store," he added.

He also noted that self-employed workers make up 31% of the employed, which is a virtual army of 10.7 million "sariling-sikap" workers eking out a living through their industriousness rather than through government assistance.

Although the government says unemployment is only in the single digits at 7.7%, there is reason to worry because the bulk of the jobless are in the youth sector.

There is also the fact that the manufacturing sector has shed 121,000 jobs over the past year, and that the National Capital Region, which accounts for the biggest chunk of GDP, has registered the highest unemployment and underemployment rate of 14% and 12.4%, respectively.

"If there are fewer jobs in Manila, then those flocking over here to seek work are in for a rude awakening. But what's even worse is that five of every 10 unemployed individuals are in the 15-24 age group, and that three of every 10 who are jobless are in the 25-34 age group."

"In short, eight out of every 10 who have no work are in the youth sector, and 40% of the unemployed are either college graduates or have at least attended college. This government is presiding over the greatest wastage of human resources," Escudero said.

He expressed disagreement with the government's plan to provide jobs because "it's temporary at best; job creation should be private sector driven."

Escudero recommended that government roll out projects that can be funded by the 2009 budget while imposing job benchmarking for every peso spent for taxes.

He also said that it was important to fund the agricultural sector even more; repair farm-to-market roads and other infrastructure like irrigation; and continue supporting cooperatives.

"We should address the skills-job mismatch. Having too many nursing graduates has created a long white line of unemployed. At the same time, government must freeze tuition fee hikes in state colleges and universities to improve their holding capacity and lessen the number of dropouts that can only lead to increased unemployment."