By Komfie Manalo
The start of the rainy season enabled farmers to hire workers in the agricultural sector, further improving the country's employment data in May, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort said Friday.
"Philippine employment data as of May 2024 could improve due to better weather conditions with the start of rains that enabled the hiring of more agricultural workers," Ricafort stated.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the country's employment rate reached 96% in April, higher than the 95.5% a year ago but slightly lower than the 96.1% recorded in March.
On the other hand, the unemployment rate was at 4%, lower than last year's 4.5% but higher than the 3.9% seen in March.
The PSA previously reported a significant decrease in the number of employed persons in the agriculture and forestry sector due to the effects of the El Niño phenomenon.
Ricafort said aside from the projected rise in agriculture workers, the increased travel during the summer season will also help boost employment data.
"Furthermore, seasonal increase in travels, vacations, holidays amid the summer season, alongside fiestas and other festivities around the country that further increased tourism activities also may have created more employment, business, and other economic activities," he said.
For the coming months, Ricafort said preparations for the mid-term elections will also help create more employment.
"Preparations for the mid-term elections, including increased government spending on infrastructure and various projects before the election ban, would help create more jobs for the coming months," he said.
However, Ricafort said that in the coming months, typhoons, the effect of La Niña, and August's ghost month could drag employment data.
He said this may be positively offset by the seasonal increase in importation and production activities in the third quarter, which is in preparation for the seasonal increase in demand for the Christmas season.
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