At the onset of the global financial crisis, 42-year-old Rosita Vergara lost her job along with some 300 workers in an export-processing zone in Calamba, Laguna. Read the rest of this entry »

Support for regional recovery needed — ADB

ASIAN policymakers should come up with policies that support the region’s economic recovery, and make governments more responsive and resilient to future crises, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda said yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »

Employment has shown signs of recovering from the global downturn, particularly in emerging Asian and Latin American economies, but the global outlook remains worrying given what the International Labor Organization (ILO) sees as a protracted “labor market recession”. Read the rest of this entry »

As P-Noy’s economic team starts the process of crafting the medium-term development plan, new wrinkles on an already jagged economic terrain have emerged: the US economy is slowing and foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the Philippines is falling. As pundits used to say: when the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold; the impact on the Philippines, of course, is much more serious. Equally worrisome, the size of FDIs in the Philippines has contracted, suggesting modest, rather than strong, growth in the years ahead. Read the rest of this entry »

WHILE it is true that the Philippine economy did not contract amid the global economic crisis and the onslaught of Tyhoon Ondoy and Pepeng in 2009, four regions, including the National Capital Region (NCR), experienced a contraction in gross regional domestic product (GRDP) due to the crisis and the typhoons. Read the rest of this entry »

No amount of money can buy the joy that a toy can bring to a child. This was the view expressed Thursday by the local distributor of Barbie dolls and other high-end toys who also said that the toy market in the country continues to flourish despite the hard times. Myrna Yao, Richwell Trading Corp. chief operating officer, said the P10-billion toy market in the country has not slowed down even with the economic difficulties. Read the rest of this entry »

FRANCHISERS and their prospective investors should tread carefully as the global economic recovery remains fragile and consumers have become harder to please. Read the rest of this entry »

In the past week alone, the New York Stock Exchange dropped 300 points. Markets in both Europe and Asia were in retreat.

In our own market, the expected post-inauguration bounce did not happen. On the day after an orderly transfer of power happened, three days of gains were wiped out in one session at the Philippine Stock Exchange. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – Outgoing Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the economy could have performed better and trimmed fiscal deficit were it not for the impact of the global financial crisis. Read the rest of this entry »

Paid sick leave plays a crucial role especially in times of crises where many workers fear dismissal and discrimination when reporting sick. A new ILO study shows that paid sick leave is not only affordable but pays off in terms of health and economic gains for employers, workers and the economy at large. ILO Online spoke with Xenia Scheil-Adlung, co-author of the study and ILO Health Policy Coordinator. Read the rest of this entry »