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Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Unemployment rate falls to 10.1%
MANILA—The unemployment rate in the Philippines fell to 10.1 percent in October, a marked improvement over the 12.7 percent level recorded in July, the government said.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri expressed confidence that job prospects would improve in 2004 as the domestic and world economies pick up.
However, the 10.1 percent unemployment in October was only little changed from the 10.2 percent posted in the same month last year, the National Statistics Office said in a statement.
This meant that about 3.55 million people were unemployed in October compared to 4.39 million unemployed in July.
Neri said labor market conditions should improve in the fourth quarter and in 2004 as the economy strengthens further.
He cited better prospects for agriculture due to better weather and government support, a boost in export demand from the recovery in the global economy, as well as growth in the information technology sector.
He said there was a pick-up in economic activity in the third quarter as all sectors generated more new jobs than they lost. Of all those employed, 37 percent were engaged in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector, 47.3 percent in services and 15.7 percent in industry. (AFP)
(December 16, 2003 issue)
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