Around 4 million Filipinos were unemployed in January or at least 8.7 percent of the country’s labor force according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

This is higher compared to last January 2020 data of 5.3 percent or 2.3 million unemployed.

For 2020, the average jobless rate was 10.4 percent, or 4.5 million adult Filipinos, the highest since 2005.

PSA added that the underemployment rate or those who are working beyond their skills or field for January 2021 settled at 16 percent.

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The country has so far suffered its worst economic contraction since World War 2 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Malacanang said on Monday the country could no longer afford to revert to an enhanced community quarantine or due to the rising number COVID-19 cases.

The Department of Health agrees with the move to avoid reverting to a stricter community quarantine in the country amid the rising and alarming cases of COVID-19, stating that local government units have already prepared for this, and that following health standards and local lockdowns will do for now.

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“For now, we are not contemplating this regionwide ECQ. If you observe, this is not the only measure we can implement. When we had a meeting with the mayors, it was agreed on that there will be localized responses, these will be intensive responses—barangays, sitios, increased visibility of enforcers,” DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

The health official added that the rise in cases is not only due to the new COVID-19 variants.

“A lot of people in their minds would say it’s the variant. But we need to understand, our health protocols are (number 1) in our response. If we become complacent, cases will rise. Variant detection is just an aggravating factor,” she said. (TDT)

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