RP’s employment gains in 8 years are factual

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today clarified that the total
8.095 million in employment gains registered from 2001 until April 2009 are
based on the annual average total of the National Statistics Office's Labor
Force Survey (LFS).

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque made the clarification in
response to unfair criticisms and reports questioning the veracity of the
figure attributed to the DOLE.

Roque made it clear that the cumulative gains in employment from 2001 to
2009 are based on the annual average rate as reflected meticulously and
consistently by the National Statistic Office (NSO), a major agency of the
National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

However, the Labor and Employment Secretary made the point that while the
gains in the country's employment are not DOLE-generated results, the
NEDA-NSO's periodic Labor Force Survey (LFS) is an international
standards-based measure or indicator that provides an accurate picture of
the country's employment situation.

"Indeed, its veracity is affirmed by the time-honored acceptance of the NSO
survey as the main and most authoritative source of employment data
obtaining in the Philippines among the major sectors and stakeholders
whether it be among labor, management and employers or the private sector,
the government itself, the academe, international investors and
institutions, and others."

He contended that the 8.095 million jobs generated under the Arroyo
administration since 2001 were not just mere figures but derived from the
annual average of four LFS being conducted by the NSO in January, April,
July and October of every year.

"As far as I remember since the 1980s, what the NSO does is that it gets the
average of the four quarter surveys, once every quarter, and that is what
you call the employment generation data for the year," Roque noted. "And
since the past administrations I have seen, it has consistently been the
source of our employment data."

Based on NSO data, the annual average of employment created from 2001 to
2008 are: 1.704 million in 2001; 906,000 in 2002; 573,000 in 2003; 978,000
in 2004; 700,000 in 2005; 323,000 in 2006; 924,000 in 2007; and 1.458
million for the first two quarters of 2009.

"These figures are based on the surveys which cover 51,000 households, so
far the biggest survey sample that's being taken by any organization," Roque
said.

He added that the employment increment registered during most of the current
decade amounts to a plus or positive factor that has made the country
resilient and able to withstand the onslaught and the worst effects of the
global financial crisis that debilitated other economies worldwide.

During her State on the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday, President Arroyo
cited these employment gains, underscoring the utmost importance of
concerted efforts in employment generation, creation and facilitation of
government and all sectors.

The President's speech also positively dwelt upon positive aspects related
directly to the strengthening of employment in the country including
provision of microfinance for the informal sector workers, interventions to
protect and assist overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) against displacement,
gains in technical vocational education or the training and provision of
productive skills to workers, and the vitality of the country's Business
Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry which is a vibrant contributor to
Filipino workers' employment.