THE labor force continues to face pandemic-related challenges including the disproportionate impact of the public health crisis across gender lines and the urban-rural divide, the World Bank (WB) said.
The bank added that the government needs to mitigate the long-term impact of school closures on human capital.
“(The pandemic) has forced learning losses on school-going children, especially those with inadequate access to remote learning. And for children from low-income families, it has added the effects of long-lasting impairment to human capital, which could reduce their productivity when they grow up,” World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, and Philippines Ndiame Diop said in an online briefing Thursday.
World Bank Senior Economist Kevin C. Chua said the labor market improved as reflected in increased labor force participation, although the challenges related to job quality persist.
“In September, the share of part-time workers remains higher than pre-pandemic level, while the share of wage and salary workers employees remains lower than before the pandemic,” Mr. Chua said.
The Philippine Statistics Authority estimated unemployment in October at 7.4% from 8.9% in September. This represents 3.504 million jobless, down from 4.255 million in September.
However, the underemployment rate — or the proportion of employees that are still looking for more work or longer working hours — rose to 16.1% in October from 14.2% in the prior month. This is equivalent to 7.044 million workers, up from 6.183 million.
To support the recovery of the job market, policy should focus on resuming economic activity, said Yoonyoung Cho, a senior economist at the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank.
Ms. Cho noted that some industries are more severely affected by job losses.
“Female young urban workers were relatively more affected by the pandemic compared with their male or their rural counterparts,” she said.
The uneven impact of job losses is also reflected in the decline in wage employment, while self-employment and unpaid family work increased, she added.
In the long run, the government and other stakeholders should also resolve challenges related to business competitiveness and worker productivity and protection, Ms. Cho said.
“We once again highlight the importance of human capital investment, in particular, ensuring a strong early start in helping institutions recover the lost learning (opportunities) from the school closures and distance learning. Ensuring the inclusion of the vulnerable population in the opportunities will be absolutely critical,” she said.
Earlier this week, the World Bank raised its growth forecast for the Philippines to 5.3% from 4.3%, citing a better-than-expected third quarter performance. — Luz Wendy T. Noble