DAVAO Region recorded a 97 percent employment rate in July 2022 from 82.1 percent in April 2020, making it the second-highest employment rate in the country and even surpassing the national average of 94.8 percent.

“This is a strong indication that the reopening of our regional economy is having its intended effects,” National Economic and Development Authority Davao (Neda-Davao) Regional Director Maria Lourdes Lim said in a press conference on October 24, 2022.

Philippine Statistics Authority Davao Region (PSA-Davao) reported that there’s a decrease of the unemployment rate in the region from 17.7 percent in April 2020 to 2.9 percent in July 2022.

Lim said Davao Region has ongoing projects that will help in sustaining employment in the region in the incoming years including the Davao City bypass construction project, Davao City coastal bypass road project, Davao City Expressway project, Davao Public Transport Modernization (DPTM) project, and the Samal Island-Davao City bridge.

However, Lim said to sustain economic stability and reduce poverty rapidly in the region, strategic interventions have been laid out in the Davao Regional Development Plan 2023-2028.

The eight strategic interventions are the following; protect the purchasing power of families, reduce vulnerability and mitigate scarring from the Covid-19 pandemic, ensure sound macroeconomic fundamentals, and create security.

Meanwhile, Davao Region is also one of the three regions that have achieved a single-digit underemployment rate nationwide with 7.7 percent from 17.2 percent in July 2021, together with the National Capital Region and Central Luzon with 7 percent. KSD