(Sa pagtaya ng economist) JOBLESS NA PINOY MABABAWASAN

POSIBLENG maitala ang unemployment rate sa 4.3 hanggang 4.4 percent sa Hulyo makaraan ang bahagyang pagtaas noong Hunyo, ayon sa isang ekonomista.

“Unemployment rate could improve in July due to the start of the rainy season, when planting activities in the agriculture sector picks up, since agriculture accounts for about 25 percent of the country’s workforce,” pahayag ni Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort sa panayam ng Philippine News Agency (PNA).

Sa datos ng Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), ang unemployment rate noong Hunyo ay nasa 4.5 percent, bumaba mula sa 6.0 porsiyentong pagtaya sa kaparehong buwan noong nakaraang taon.

Gayunman ay mas mataas ito sa 4.3 percent noong Mayo ngayong taon.

Ayon kay Ricafort, ang offsetting risk factors ay kinabibilangan ng ilang pinsala ng bagyo noong huling bahagi ng Hulyo, lalo na sa hard-hit agricultural areas sa Northern at Central Luzon, gayundin ng mga bagong graduate na maaaring makadagdag sa unemployment rate.

“Economic activities tend to pick up in the third quarter (of the year) in view of the seasonal increase in importation activities in preparation for the seasonal increase in demand in the fourth quarter Christmas holiday season,” aniya.

“So employment could also pick up alongside the increased production, manufacturing, and other economic and business activities in the third quarter in preparation for stockpiling for the local and export market ahead of the expected increase in sales,” dagdag pa niya.

-(PNA)