Independent research group IBON estimates that the number of unemployed and underemployed increased to 11.9 million in 2012. An additional 48,000 Filipinos became unemployed to reach 4.4 million, while 349,000 Filipinos were added to the pool of the underemployed to reach 7.5 million.
This translates to an unemployment rate of 10.5 percent while the underemployment rate increased to 20 percent from 19.3 the year before, the independent think-tank states.
The government’s own labor statistics would show that the number of unemployed and underemployed reached an all-time high: 2.9 million and 7.9 million respectively. The number of unemployed workers soared by 2,000 while the underemployed rose by 812,000.
This pegs the government unemployment figure for 2012 at 7.0 percent, making the Philippines the country with has the highest unemployment rate in East Asia: Thailand (0.6 percent), Singapore (1.7 percent), Malaysia (3.0 percent), Korea (3.0 percent), China (4.1). Full story
