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Saturday, December 7, 2024 Vol. 20 No. 59
P25.00 nationwide | 16 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
BETTER JOBS NUMBERS NOT ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD: A LOOK INTO THE KOREAN ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
SUGA of BTS. AP Warning: This article contains mentions of suicide and death and may be triggering to some readers.
By Ica Hontiveros-Cheng
F
ANS of K-Drama Actor Park MinJae (known for his roles in Little Women and Mr. Lee) were stunned with the news of his sudden passing at the age of 32. The actor was on a work trip in China when he died suddenly of a cardiac LEE SUN-KYUN. AP arrest last week. Hwang Joo-hye, the chief executive of Park’s agency Big Title, wrote in a post: “The guy who said he would conquer China and go on a month-long trip ended up going on a very long trip. It was so sudden. Although it was a short time, I was grateful to be your representative, and I am sorry.” Park Min-Jae’s brother made the announcement of his death on the late actor’s Instagram account with this post in Korean: “My beloved brother has gone to rest. I hope as many people as possible can remember my brother. Please understand that I cannot contact everyone individually.”
A LABORER paints a house along Edsa in Pasay City, earning daily wages to make ends meet. This reflects the broader challenge of underemployment in the Philippines, where 6.08 million Filipinos were reported underemployed as of October 2024, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. The data underscores the urgent need for sustainable and better-quality job opportunities to uplift workers in similar situations. NONIE REYES
A
By Cai U. Ordinario
MID the improvement in the country’s employment data, the number of Filipinos looking for better jobs grew in October 2024, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). deremployed Filipinos increased to 6.08 million in October 2024 from the 5.6 million posted in October 2023 and 5.78 million in July 2024. “The latest survey results show positive employment outcomes, with notable progress in reducing unemployment. Full-year headline
BM GRAPHICS/ED DAVAD
On Friday, the PSA said the number of Filipinos looking for jobs declined to 1.97 million in October 2024 from the 2.09 million posted in October 2023 and from the 2.38 million posted in July 2024. However, the number of un-
The elephant in the room
figures reflect sustained improvement but underscore the need to intensify efforts to create more and better-quality jobs to meet the target set in the Philippine Devel-
opment Plan (PDP) by 2028,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a statement. Continued on A2
Recto: PHL labor force still vibrant as unemployment rate keeps dipping F
Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto: “Our labor market continues to improve, and we are on the right track. But we won’t stop working because creating better-quality jobs will help Filipinos grow their incomes and climb out of poverty faster.”
The country’s unemployment rate in October 2024 improved from 4.2 percent in the same month last year. This translates to an additional 369,000 Filipinos with jobs com-
BM GRAPHICS/ED DAVAD
INANCE Secretary Ralph G. Recto on Friday highlighted the sustained strength of the country’s labor market as the unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in October 2024, bringing the year-to-date average to 4.0 percent—well below the full-year target range. The Philippine Development Plan sets the unemployment rate target for 2024 at 4.4 percent to 4.7 percent. “This means our labor market continues to improve and we are on the right track. But we won’t stop working because government’s program to help create better-quality jobs will continue to that Filipinos can see their incomes grow and they can climb out of poverty faster,” Recto said, speaking in Filipino.
pared to October 2023, bringing the full-year employment creation to approximately 845,000. The DOF pointed out that country’s underemployment rate
WHILE Park’s death was due to a cardiac arrest, the fact that he was young and the sudden nature of his passing leaves fans in shock and mourning. Some are even pointing out the elephant in the room. A netizen (Silvino Sayat)[1] commented on a news post about Park’s passing saying: “Why are [so many] Koreans dying at a young age?” And indeed, a quick Google search PARK MIN-JAE will show that the number of Korean actors and singers who died young, mostly by suicide, is at an alarming number. Many of them took their own lives even before reaching the age of 30. These deaths have been attributed to the high-pressure environment in South Korea’s entertainment industry, where celebrities are expected to be exemplary and without reproach. Continued on A2
also stood relatively low at 12.6 percent despite being higher than the 11.7 percent recorded in October 2023. Analysts have flagged the worsening underemployment rate in the past months. Year-to-date, the underemployment rate declined to 12.2 percent in 2024 from 12.5 percent in 2023. With this, the total number of Filipinos employed rose to 48.2 million in October 2024, higher than the 47.8 million figure in October 2023. The DOF chief’s statement noted that more and more youth are also entering the labor force, comprising 79 percent of the 908,000 new entrants in the job market for October 2024. Continued on A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.0740 n JAPAN 0.3869 n UK 74.1024 n HK 7.4625 n CHINA 8.0041 n SINGAPORE 43.3777 n AUSTRALIA 37.4577 n EU 61.4888 n KOREA 0.0411 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.4617 Source: BSP (December 6, 2024)