THE number of jobless adults in the country rose to about 14 million in the first quarter of this year, pushing adult unemployment to a record high of 34.2 percent, according to the latest Social Weather Stations survey.
Adult unemployment stood at 27.9 percent or about 11 million in the previous quarter, the research organization said.
SWS said 13 percent of those unemployed voluntarily left their old job and 12 percent were retrenched. Of the retrenched workers, 9 percent were laid off and 3 percent did not get their job contact renewed, it said.
Another 3 percent said their employers closed operation while 6 percent never worked before at the time of the survey.
Adult unemployment in SWS surveys has been 20 percent or more since May 2005, except in December 2007 when it stood at 17.5 percent.
SWS uses the traditional definition of unemployment or those not working and at the same time looking for work. Those not working but not looking for work, such as housewives, students, the retired or disabled, are excluded from the labor force.
Its surveys cover Filipinos at least 18 years old. The official lower boundary of the labor force is 15 years old.
The government used to define the unemployed as those not working and looking for work. In April 2005, however, it officially excluded from the ranks of the jobless those not available for work, even though looking for work, and added those available for work but not seeking work for the following reasons: tired/believe no work is available, awaiting results of a job application, temporarily ill/disabled, bad weather, and waiting for rehire/job recall.
If the official definition were applied in the latest SWS survey, the unemployment rate among adults 18 years old would be 25.9 percent.