The Philippines has the highest unemployment rate – at 7.3 percent – in Southeast Asia, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said in the latest Global Employment Trends.
This compared with Indonesia's 6 percent and Brunei's 3.7 percent, the ILO report showed.
Myanmar has an unemployment rate of 3.5 percent, Malaysia has 3.2 percent and Singapore has 3.1 percent. At the bottom of the list are Vietnam at 1.9 percent, Laos at 1.4 percent Thailand, 0.8 percent; and Cambodia, 0.3 percent.
There were nearly 3 million Filipino who were out of job in January, government data showed.
The latest labor force survey (LFS) of the National Statistics Office showed the unemployment rate rose to 7.5 percent – equivalent to 2.969 million jobless Filipinos – from 7.1 percent in January 2013 and 6.5 percent last October.
The higher number is the result of a surge in new entrants to the labor force and the phenomenon of job mismatch, according to a report aired on GMA News' "State of the Nation with Jessica Soho."
"Ang target jobs natin, na-meet natin. Malaki din naman ang percentage ng jobs na na-generate. The problem is dumami ang new entrant sa labor force," Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said.
"Nakikita natin na ang karamihan na kailangan ngayon mga technical [workers] pero ang pinu-produce natin sa kolehiyo... ay 'yung Bachelor of Arts, 'yung mga kurso na hindi nag-pu-provide ng required skill na ating mga kumpanya," he said.
The Labor official, however, was optimistic that economic growth will address this problem.
"The growth rate now and in the coming year... will provide additional jobs," Cruz said.
Last year, Philippine economy grew by 7.2 percent, surpassing government's growth goal of 6 to 7 percent and the fastest since the 7.7 percent recorded in 2009. – Danessa Rivera/VS, GMA News
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