PHL manufacturing output slows to 4.4% in ’23
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HE Philippine manufacturing sector’s output slowed to 4.4 percent in 2023 due to doubledigit declines in several commodity groups, according to the latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Based on the Production Index and Net Sales Index, PSA said the factory production in 2023 slowed from the 15.1 percent average posted in 2022. Commodities that posted double-digit contractions in 2023 were led by wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles, and related products with 25 percent; wearing apparel, 24.3
percent; and leather and related products, including footwear, 23.1 percent. “The annual average rate in VoPI for manufacture of food products declined in 2023 by 1.8 percent from a 5 percent annual average increment in 2022,” PSA also said. Products t hat propped t he manufacturing sector’s output last year were commodities such as coke and refined petroleum products which increased 33.2 percent; electrical equipment, 2 5. 8 p e rc e nt ; a nd t r a n s p or t equipment, 23.4 percent, among others.
In December 2023, the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) posted a growth of 2 percent, faster than the 1.8 percent posted in November 2023 but slower than the 4.5 percent in December 2022. “The expansion in the annual growth of the VoPI in December 2023 was mainly brought about by the slower annual decline in the manufacture of food products at 1.4 percent in December 2023, compared with its annual drop of 4.9 percent in the previous month. The manufacture of food products contributed 34.5 percent to the uptrend of VoPI for the manufac-
turing section in December 2023,” PSA said. The main contributors to the growth of the VoPI were the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations at 38.2 percent in December 2023 from a contraction of 23.4 percent in December 2022. T h i s w a s fol lo w e d b y t he manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment which contracted 12 percent during the period from a 23.5-percent annual decrease in the previous month.
BusinessMirror Thursday, February 8, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 116
See “PHL,” A2
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PHL NOT A TIGHT LABOR w
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MARKET—EXPERTS, PSA By Cai U. Ordinario
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@caiordinario
ESPITE the record-low unemployment rate in December last year, economists and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) are not convinced that the country already has a tight labor market.
Based on the results of the latest Labor Force Survey (LFS), the PSA said the country’s unemployment rate averaged 3.1 percent in December 2023 and 4.3 percent in 2023. The 3.1 percent rate in December is a new record low in the series that began in 2005. Given this, the country’s employment rate averaged 96.9 percent in December 2023 and 95.7 percent in 2023. The PSA said the rate in December is also the highest since 2005. “It’s not yet a [tight labor market]. Although, economists should look at ano ba yung ating [what is our] natural rate of unemployment. Pero wala pa naman kaming nakikita [But we have not seen anything]. We will see in the next surveys,” National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa told BusinessMirror on the sidelines of the LFS briefing. “The economists should estimate the natural rate of employment.... So we can see if we’re nearing it; so right now, I don’t know whether [the] 3.1 percent [approximates it]. Anyway, it’s just one month so perhaps [we’ll have] more information in the first quarter, we will see,” he also said. De La Salle University economist Maria Ella Oplas describes a tight labor market as an economic condition where “there are more job openings available compared to people looking for work.”
Hires, fires, quits
FOR his part, Former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Dante V. Canlas said it is better to use data on hires, fires and quits to determine the natural rate of unemployment. “The natural rate of unemployment is a theoretical construct that is best understood in labor-market models where search by both labor and firms is taking place always,” Canlas said.
COUNTDOWN As Chinese New Year approaches, the streets of Binondo, the oldest Chinatown in the world, burst with vibrant hues. Displayed for sale are a myriad of colorful lucky charm ornaments, each believed to bestow luck and prosperity according to Chinese feng shui beliefs. NONIE REYES
TEACHER-EDUCATION SCHOOLS WITH ZERO PASSERS BEHIND PISA DEBACLE? By Claudeth S.Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3
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HE call to shut down low-performing teacher education institutions (TEIs) floated anew as the Senate Committee on Basic Education probed the recent outcome of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) on Wednesday. However, Committee on Basic Education chairperson Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said that he is not after the shutting down of low-performing TEIs but the need to extract “accountability” in teacher education.
“[These] TEIs will just go through their usual business and they get subsidy through higher education, and then the student will have to pay their extra expenses...there’s no point, eh! I can see that it filters to our education system,” Gatchalian said, noting that teachers are the most important resource in a student’s education. “My point there, it’s affecting [the performance of students] . because it starts with the TEIs; hopefully we produce highly qualified teachers. Eventually they will end up in our public schools and eventually PISA results will demonstrate that quality,” the senator added.
Senator Nancy Binay also expressed dismay and suggested that there should be a policy for TEIs with zero passing rate, similar to schools offering a nursing program. Gatchalian echoed this by saying, “But what we want to see is the accountability in teacher education because it starts with pre-service. But if we are seeing that our TEIs are not up to par, not compliant with minimum standards... or else it’s a waste of resource. He recalled that the Commission of Higher Education (Ched) had flagged the same problem “three or four years ago.” See “Teacher-education,” A2
See “Labor market,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.2610 n JAPAN 0.3803 n UK 70.8776 n HK 7.1923 n CHINA 7.8267 n SINGAPORE 41.8609 n AUSTRALIA 36.6991 n EU 60.5087 n KOREA 0.0424 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.0026 Source: BSP (February 7, 2024)