Economic conditions in region still good despite crisis
IF the recent economic indices of the Ilocos region are correct, it would appear that it has been insulated from the current financial crisis.
According to the regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), no establishment has closed shop and employment rate was at 93 percent,
Regional director John Henry Jalbuena told The PUNCH that 1.7 million out of 3.1 million labor force in the region are employed and unemployment rate is only 9.6 percent or about 125,000 people.
The employed sector represents both salary-based employees and self-employed.
He pointed out that no establishment has been reported to have closed shop in the last few months.
“Maganda ang status ng employment dito,” he said.
On the industrial front, there has been industrial peace as no incidence of strike or lock-outs in companies in the area have been reported.
He cited the industrial peace to the closer networking and linkages between DOLE and
The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Pangasinan chapter) that worked for the payment of additional non-wage benefits to their employees.
“In spite of the low P240 minimum wage with P10 cost of living allowance included, he noted that no one has so far filed a petition for wage increase citing the financial crisis as a reason,” Jalbuena said.
He said a factor in the wage increase issue is the profile of the 44,055 establishments in the area. “95 percent are small micro enterprises, meaning their capitalization is only P3 million below and their employees only number nine at most,” he pointed out.—#
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