BY CHINO LEYCO
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THE number of jobless Filipinos accelerated as the country’s labor force participation rate decelerated to its lowest level in history due to the coronavirus-induced economic crisis, the Philippine Statistics Authority said yesterday.
Unemployment rate climbed to 17.7 percent in April this year, equivalent to 7.3 million Filipinos.
“This is a record high in the unemployment rate reflecting the effects of coronavirus disease (COVID19) economic shutdown to the Philippine labor market,” National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said.
All regions reported double-digit unemployment rates during the month.
The highest unemployment rate was in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with 29.8 percent, followed by Region 3 (27.3 percent), and Cordillera Administrative Region (25.3 percent).
In Metro Manila, the jobless rate is at 12.3 percent.
Meanwhile, headline inflation further slid last month as the coronavirus pandemic continued to drag down consumer demand.
The rate of increase in consumer prices, or inflation, clocked in at 2.1 percent in April, slightly lower compared with 2.2 percent in the previous month.
“Slowdown in the headline inflation in May, 2020, was mainly driven by the 5.6 percent annual drop in the transport index,” the PSA said.
