One of the high points of his administration that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. likes to brag about is how employment is high and how unemployment is at one of its record lows in decades.

But when we consider the definition that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) uses to classify employment, it could show why these economic trophies don’t actually reflect what we might see at the grassroots — a lack of quality opportunities that lead people to migrate to the capital, if not abroad.

Latest numbers from the PSA in June show that the employment rate in the Philippines is 96.9%, translating to around 50.28 million working Filipinos, while unemployment dipped to 3.1%, or 1.62 million jobless Filipinos. The latter rate is the second lowest since April 2005.

But how do we measure employment? It’s based on a definition from the International Labor Organization (ILO): if the person surveyed at the time has worked for at least one hour within the reference period. In the PSA’s case, it’s quarterly or monthly.

Simply put, you could work for only one hour in a span of three months, and you’d be considered employed.

Here’s the definition. Employed individuals are 15 years old and above who are either:

• “At work – those who do any work even for one hour during the reference period for pay or profit, or work without pay on the farm or business enterprise operated by a member of the same household related by blood, marriage, or adoption; or
• With a job but not at work. Those who have a job or business but are not at work because of temporary illness/injury, vacation, or other reasons. Likewise, persons who expect to report for work or to start operation of a farm or business enterprise within two weeks from the date of the enumerator’s visit, are considered employed.”

In a Senate committee hearing on the proposed 2025 budget of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Thursday, September 5, senators asked, is this measurement still reflective of our labor situation?

“When we go out, the statistics do not align with reality, because napakaluwag po ng ating international definition na inakma (the international definition that we adopted is so loose),” said Senate finance committee chair Loren Legarda.

DOLE Undersecretary Carmela Torres also clarified that the 1.62 million jobless Filipinos were those who were in the Philippine workforce (those 15 years old and above who are either employed or unemployed) who were actively looking for work.

But when asked by Legarda if there was data on those who “lost hope” looking for a job, the DOLE acknowledged that there was none.

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said he “shared” the senators’ concern about the data, and that there was an effort from the department to gather more data from poorer municipalities while implementing its projects.

“Guma-gather po kami ng mga data, dahil hindi rin po kami kampante na isang oras ka lang nagtrabaho, masaya ka na,” said Laguesma. (We are gathering data ourselves, because we are also dissatisfied with the idea that you’re content with working for just one hour.)

Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros also pointed out that even if other countries may be using the same ILO definition, they are still able to showcase a “better situation for their working people.”

Legarda urged the DOLE and the Institute of Labor Studies, with or without the PSA, to come up with a “realistic” survey of the realities of the Philippine workforce.

As this was a budget hearing, she also asked for a proposed program to reach out to “the last, the least, and the lost” — or those in the country who have a severe lack of access to job opportunities.

These exchanges in the Thursday hearing only scratched the surface of the realities of the Philippine working environment, as the steady rate of underemployment raises questions about how sufficient jobs here are.

After all, most of the new jobs Filipinos have are low-paying.

The PSA is set to announce new employment numbers in the July 2024 preliminary Labor Force Survey results on Friday, September 6. – Rappler.com