BusinessWorld
May 7, 2021 | 12:33 am
PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS
THE PHILIPPINE economy likely remained in a recession in the first quarter, as domestic consumption continued to be sluggish amid the prolonged health crisis.
ING Bank N.V. Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said in a note on Thursday that first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) may have contracted by 3.5%, much faster than the 0.7% slump recorded in the same period last year.
“Domestic consumption remains one of the key sectors of the economy (roughly 70% of total GDP) and we expect this sector to have been challenged at the start of the year. High levels of both unemployment and underemployment translate to depressed consumption all the more compounded as inflation rose to 4.5% in the period,” Mr. Mapa said.
Published May 6, 2021, 10:58 AM
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) raised the need to urgently augment the local pork supply through importation, noting that the meat remained as the top contributor to inflation last month.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said the temporary reduction of pork tariffs and the increase of its minimum access volume (MAV) will immediately curb the rising pork inflation for the benefit of some 100 million Filipinos.
Socio Economic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua (FACEBOOK/ MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“Meat has been persistently the top contributor to inflation this year, hence we urgently need to temporarily augment our pork supply through importation. Retaining the status quo will cause 100 million Filipinos to suffer longer from high food prices,” Chua said in a statement.
BusinessWorld
May 6, 2021 | 11:05 am
The number of jobless Filipinos increased to 4.187 million in February from 3.953 million in January, based on latest official data. Photo by Michael Varcas, The Philippine Star
THE COUNTRY’s jobless rate in March fell to its lowest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported this morning.
Preliminary results of the PSA’s March 2021 round of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) showed around 3.441 million unemployed Filipinos, down from 4.187 million and 3.953 million in the February and January LFS rounds, respectively.
This puts the March unemployment rate at 7.1%, the lowest since the 5.3% in January 2020, as well as the record-high 17.6% posted in April 2020.
(Mark Balmores / MANILA BULLETIN)
“The signs are indeed encouraging. Our economy is gradually getting back on track as more people are actively participating in the labor force and are becoming employed,” DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in reaction to the March 2021 survey outcome.
Bello said the recorded unemployment rate of 7.1 percent, which equates to 3.44 million unemployed Filipinos, “is already the lowest recorded since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country”.
Based on figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the unemployment rate in the country hit a staggering 17.6 percent in April 2020, when strict lockdowns and stay-at-home orders were first enforced in an attempt to halt the local spread of COVID-19. The number represented 7.2 million jobless Filipinos.