President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is confident that the Philippines will not fall into an economic recession amid the soaring inflation.

 “Malakas ang loob natin hindi tayo magkakaroon ng recession dito sa Pilipinas dahil masyadong mababa ang unemployment rate (We are confident that we will not suffer a recession here in the Philippines because our unemployment rate it too low),” Marcos said.

The President expressed optimism as the country recorded a low unemployment rate in October, which dropped to 4.5 percent, its lowest record since October 2019.

The country’s inflation, however, rose to 8 percent in November, the highest in 14 years.

He attributed the low unemployment rate to his administration’s goal to create more jobs, which, he said, will continue.

He also assured the nation that the government is carrying out efforts to bring down the inflation and slow down the soaring prices of commodities.

“Gumagawa kami ng marami pang ibang paraan para mas maging magaan sa bulsa ng ating mga kababayan itong napakabilis na pagtaas ng presyo ng kung ano anong mga bilihin at asahan ninyo na lahat ng paraan maaari nating gawin ay gagawin natin para pababain ang inflation rate, gawing mas mabagal man lang ang pagtaas ng presyo (We are doing a lot of other ways to ease the spending burden of our countrymen and the a fast soaring of prices of goods and expect that we are doing everything we can to lower the inflation and slow down the surging prices of goods),” Marcos said.

Based on the preliminary results of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) latest labor force survey released on Wednesday, Dec. 7, the country’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.5 percent in October, lower than the 7.4 percent in October 2021 and 5 percent in September.

The PSA survey results showed the number of unemployed Filipinos decreased to 2.24 million in October from 3.5 million a year ago, with 1.26 million securing employment this year.

It also indicated the employment rate in October rose to 95.5 percent, from 95 percent in the previous month, the highest rate recorded since January 2020.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Betheena Unite

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