One in four hit by virus curbs still jobless

Thorough check: A policeman inspecting a bus on the outskirts of Quezon City amid the stricter lockdown. — AP

NEARLY a quarter of the country’s employees laid off since a pandemic lockdown was first imposed in March 2020 remain jobless or are no longer looking for work, even as the economy has mostly been reopened, the national statistics agency said.

Some 75% of the 9.1 million laid-off workers in the agency’s survey had found jobs, but 1.2 million were still unemployed. Another one million were no longer in the workforce as of last month, according to data released yesterday.