REGIONAL ECONOMIC SITUATIONER Western ... - NEDA-RDC VI

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12.0 10.0 Inflation rates among the provinces have all gone down compared to the previous quarter, but had gone up compared to same period last year. This 3 rd quarter, Negros Occidental registered the lowest inflation rate (5.4%) while Antique and Guimaras registered the highest at 9.1% and 9.0%, respectively. 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 Figure 2 Inflation Rate, By Province, Region VI Third Quarter 2004, Second and Third Quarters 2005 Region 6 Aklan Antique Capiz Guimaras Iloilo Neg. Occ. 3Q '04 6.4 9.2 4.4 3.5 6.4 6.8 5.1 2Q '05 8.7 7.5 10.8 6.8 9.1 10.4 6.6 3Q '05 7.1 8.2 9.1 6.5 9.0 8.1 5.4 Source: National Statistics Office, Region 6 2. Employment As of July 2005, the labor force or population aged 15-64 years old in Region VI is around 2,963,000. There was a big increase in employment rate in 2 nd quarter based year-on-year. For the 3 rd quarter there was a slight decrease of 0.6 percentage points. In CY 2005, a slight decrease of 1.4 percentage points was observed from 2 nd to 3 rd quarter (Table 2). Unemployment rates decreased largely in 2 nd quarter but slightly increased in the 3 rd quarter based on year-on-year comparison. In CY 2005, a 1.4 percentage point increase was observed from 2 nd to 3 rd quarter. The visible underemployment rates increased year-on-year (1.7 percentage points in 2005). Due to increasing costs of basic commodities, more people tend to actively seek for another job on top of their existing ones causing the visible underemployment rates to increase. 2004 April July 2005 April July Difference Year-on-Year (July/3 rd Quarter) Quarter-on-Quarter (April-July 2005) Table 2 Rates of Employment, Unemployment and Visible Underemployment, Region VI April/July 2004 and 2005 Employment Rate 87.3 93.6 94.4 93.0 -0.6 -1.4 Source: National Statistics Office – Labor Force Survey Unemployment Rate 12.7 6.4 5.6 7.0 0.6 1.4 ` Visible Underemployment Rate 15.9 14.3 16.6 16.0 1.7 -0.6 2
The Department of Labor and Employment, Region VI reported that during the 3rd Quarter of 2005 a total of 80 establishments had either closed shop or trimmed down the workforce. As a result, some 792 workers lost their jobs. This number, though is slightly lower (3.4%) than in the same quarter last year. Out of the 80 establishments that shut down, 27 were in the wholesale and retail trade sector. Financial problems caused the closure and/or retrenchment of the majority (58) of these establishments. Table 3 Number of Shutdowns and Retrenchments and Number of Employees Affected, Region VI Third Quarter 2004 and 2005 3rd Quarter 2004 3rd Quarter 2005 Percent Change RETRENCHMENT No. of Establishments 38 61 60.5 No. of Employees Affected SHUTDOWN 485 494 1.9 No. of Establishments 9 19 111.1 No. of Employees Affected TOTAL 335 298 -11.0 No. of Establishments 47 80 70.2 No. of Employees Affected 820 792 -3.4 Source: Department of Labor and Employment, Region 6 3. Agriculture Production A. Major Crops A year-on-year comparison is relevant for agriculture production because seasonality affects the quarter-on-quarter analysis. A three-year analysis is shown in Table 4. Palay production in 3 rd quarter 2005 is lower compared to the previous two years, i.e., 24% lower than Q3-04 and 10% less than Q3-03. July-September is the normal harvest season for first cropping of palay in the region. The negative production performance can be attributed to lack of water (less rain) especially during the flowering stage resulting to a low yield. Lack of water also resulted to stunted growth and proliferation of tungro and heat-induced plant diseases. Corn production, on the other hand, increased significantly, i.e., 25% higher than Q3-04 and 44% greater than Q3-03. Lack of water for palay production probably pushed farmers to plant corn resulting to higher corn production for this year. Sugarcane production showed a decreasing trend of around 18% compared to the past two years. Crop diversification and conversion of sugar lands to other crops, especially in Negros Occidental mainly caused this declining sugarcane output in the region. Banana production is on the uptrend. Despite the lack of water this year, there was a modest 2% increase over 2004 level and a respectable 6% increase over 2003 level. Banana production (especially the high valued lakatan variety) has replaced sugarcane in some parts of central Iloilo as plantations also continued to expand in the provinces of Capiz, Negros Occidental and Aklan. 3
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Page 7 and 8: B. Angel Wings Shellfish (Diwal) Th
Page 9 and 10: machine costing around P150 million
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REGIONAL ECONOMIC SITUATIONER Western ... - NEDA-RDC VI

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