By Prince Golez
The recovery of the country’s micro industries aided economic growth, Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said Thursday.
In a interview on PTV-4, Ortiz-Luiz said the reopening of economy and efforts by the administration to increase job opportunities pushed the country’s employment rate to pick up.
“Kung hindi doon sa pagbubukas ng ekonomiya ay marami, alam mo naman, lalo na iyong mga micro industries natin ay kalahati niyan ay nagsara during the pandemic. 65 percent of employment comes from them. Ngayon, nakikita nating unti-unti na silang nagbubukas, at marami na ang tao na naka-standby ang tinatawag nila,” according to him.
He added that inflation remains manageable, and the country is on the road to economic recovery.
“Well, I will not say out of control iyong inflation, medyo mataas lang pero iyan naman ay manageable pa iyan. At talaga namang on track tayo dahil tuluy-tuloy naman ang paglago ng ating ekonomiya,” said Ortiz-Luiz.
According to the preliminary results of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s latest labor force survey, the country’s unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent in October, down from 7.4 percent in October 2021 and 5 percent in September.
Meanwhile, the ECOP president cited the need to step up efforts to address skills mismatch and attract investments that will create more jobs.
“Ang name of the game there is addressing the mismatch – kung ano iyong hinahanap ng mga industriya, hinahanap ng mga employers, ay iyon ang hinahanapan natin ng ka-match. So, iyon ang importante,” he pointed out.
Ortiz-Luiz said the recent travels of the President paved the way for more investors and critical investments in various sectors.
“Lahat ng mga pledges ay hindi naman nagkakatotoo iyong iba, pero marami rin ay talagang natutuloy at marami riyan ang nagki-create ng jobs. At saka iyong tiwala ng mga international investments sa atin ay tumataas,” he concluded.
