Being Filipino: Our soft power

The 5th annual global survey from Brand Finance ranks all 193 member states of the United Nations for the first time 

• Military conflict harms soft power, with Russia, Ukraine, and Israel falling down the ranking 

• China is the fastest-growing nation brand this year, rising in the ranking from 5th to 3rd 

• The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Türkiye see greatest improvement since inception of the Global Soft Power Index in 2020 

The United States and the United Kingdom are the most influential soft power nations in the world, according to the new iteration of the Global Soft Power Index by Brand Finance, the world's leading brand evaluation consultancy. China is ranked 3rd, surpassing Japan and Germany.  

Brand Finance publishes the Global Soft Power Index based on a survey of more than 170,000 respondents from over 100 countries to gather data on global perceptions of all 193 member states of the United Nations. Thanks to the scope of the survey, the Index is the world’s most comprehensive study on perceptions of nation brands, providing an in-depth analysis of the evolving status of soft power as nations navigate significant global changes and challenges.  

Soft power is defined as a nation’s ability to influence the preferences and behaviors of various actors in the international arena (states, corporations, communities, publics, etc.) through attraction and persuasion rather than coercion. Each nation is scored across 55 different metrics to arrive at an overall score out of 100 and ranked in order from 1st to 193rd. 

The report has found that at a time of global uncertainty and instability, economic credentials are increasingly important contributors to a nation’s soft power. Nation brand attributes such as 'strong and stable economy' and 'products and brands the world loves' emerge as key drivers of influence and reputation on the global stage. This trend explains the continued dominance of the world’s largest economies like the USA and China as well as smaller developed economies like Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates at the top of the ranking. Dominant nation brands are recording faster soft power growth (average +3.1 points in the top 50) than the rest of the ranking (average -1.3 for those ranked 51-193). 

The Philippines , known for its warm and welcoming people, climbed nine spots to 52nd place out of 193 nations with an overall index score of 39.8 out of 100 in the latest edition of the annual Global Soft Power Index by brand valuation consultancy firm Brand Finance.

Though the country’s performance could be better, its high score in the “people” metric “speaks volumes in terms of who we are as Filipinos,”. We’re nurturing, and we’ve reached other countries through different professions by always being rooted in malasakit (concern).

Source: Business World and BrandFinance

PHL jobless rate at two-month high

The Philippine jobless rate jumped to a two-month high in March as inflation and an El Niño-induced dry spell limited economic output, according to the local statistics agency.

The national unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, equivalent to two million jobless Filipinos, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a report.

The rate was 3.5% in February or 1.8 million jobless people, and 4.7% or 2.42 million a year earlier.

The jobless rate averaged 4% last quarter compared with 4.8% a year earlier.

PSA Undersecretary and National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa blamed lower farm output for increased joblessness.

“The agriculture sector as well as fisheries was heavily affected in terms of employment,” he told a news briefing in mixed English and Filipino. The industry has had to lay off workers as a result.

Inflation, which quickened for the third straight month to 3.8% in April, also restricted production, affecting jobs, Cid L. Terosa, a senior economist at the University of Asia and the Pacific, said.

“The high labor force participation rate as well as seasonal effects related to the hiring practices of firms in the first quarter added upward push to the unemployment rate,” he added.

The job quality in March improved as the underemployment rate eased to 11% from 12.4% a month earlier and from 11.2% a year ago. It was the lowest underemployment rate since September 2023.

Underemployed Filipinos — those who want longer work hours or an additional job — fell by 686,000 to 5.39 million from February. The number of underemployed Filipinos dropped by 51,000 from a year earlier.

Underemployment eased to 12.4% last quarter from 12.7% a year ago.

The PSA said the employment rate fell to 96.1% in March from 96.5% in February. The rate was 95.3% a year earlier.

The number of employed Filipinos rose by 202,000 month on month to 49.15 million in March, compared with 48.58 million a year earlier.

The employment rate rose to 96% in the first quarter from 95.2% a year ago.

The statistics agency noted that month on month, the country’s labor force — made up of people who are employed and unemployed but seeking work, as well as first-time job seekers — rose by 407,000 to 51.15 million in March.

It said 51 million people were part of the labor force in March 2023.

This translated to a labor force participation rate of 65.3%, compared with 64.8% a month earlier and 66% a year ago.

The average Filipino employee worked for 40.7 hours a week.

RESKILLING, UPSKILLING

Carlos Miguel S. Oñate, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines legislative officer, said the rise in the participate rate showed that more Filipinos were seeking jobs.

He added that labor rights should be upheld through upskilling and by creating new job opportunities especially for fresh graduates.

In a statement, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the government would continue to prioritize the creation of high-quality and well-paying jobs.

“We will focus on attracting job-generating investments from the private sector and scaling up social and physical infrastructure to improve our people’s employment prospects to achieve this goal,” he said. “These will be accompanied by reskilling and upskilling programs to increase employability.”

The biggest monthly job loss in March was seen in agriculture and forestry, which slashed 318,000 workers to 9.04 million. It was followed by transportation and storage, which was 292,000 workers down to 3.56 million, and construction, where workers fell by 214,000 to 4.55 million.

Month-on-month job gains were recorded in public administration and defense, which was up by 606,000 to 3.29 million, manufacturing which added 351,000 jobs to 4.02 million, and information and communications which was up by 159,000 to 529,000.

Year on year, agriculture and forestry shed the most workers at 881,000, followed by fishing and aquaculture which was down by 449,000 to 1.03 million, and accommodation and food service activities which fell by 118,000 to 2.56 million.

On the other hand, wholesale and retail trade posted the biggest yearly job gains in March after hiring 963,000 more workers to 10.75 million. Manufacturing added 553,000 workers to 4.02 million, while public administration and defense was up by 229,000.

“The unemployment rate will continue to be pressured upwards in April because of inflation,” Mr. Terosa said.

He cited the need to monitor proposals for a legislated wage increase, which he said could lead to gloomy job prospects.

Source: Business World

Filipino consumers were less pessimistic in Q1 – BSP survey

Consumers turned less pessimistic in the first quarter (Q1) amid expectations of improvements in income and employment, a survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

The BSP confidence index (CI) among consumers declined by 10.9% in the first quarter, an improvement from the 19% contraction in the previous quarter.

“The improved outlook of consumers for Q1 2024 is brought about by their expectations of additional and higher income, availability of more jobs and permanent employment, and additional working family members,” BSP Department of Economic Statistics Senior Director Redentor Paolo M. Alegre, Jr. said in a virtual briefing on Friday.

Latest data from the local statistics authority showed that the country’s unemployment rate fell to a two-month low of 3.5% in February.

This was equivalent to 1.8 million unemployed Filipinos, an improvement from the 2.15 million in January and 2.47 million a year ago.

BSP data showed that consumers’ buying sentiment for big-ticket items turned less pessimistic in the first quarter as the index improved to -62.6% from -71.3%. Consumers were also less hesitant about buying big-ticket items in the next 12 months.

More households also reported increases in loans and savings, the BSP said.

The survey showed that 24.9% of households availed of a loan in the last 12 months, slightly higher than the 22.9% in the fourth quarter. The percentage of households with savings also rose to 33.5% from 29.1%.

LESS OPTIMISM

Meanwhile, Mr. Alegre said that consumer sentiment turned less favorable for the second quarter.

The index remained positive at 2.7% but was lower than the 5.6% in the fourth quarter.

This was due to expectations of a “faster increase in prices of goods, fewer available jobs, and lower income.”

Headline inflation is expected to temporarily accelerate above the BSP’s 2-4% target range over the next two quarters. Inflation quickened for a second straight month to 3.7% in March.

The survey showed that consumer sentiment is also less optimistic for the next 12 months. The index was at 13.4%, lower than the 15% in the previous quarter.

BUSINESS OUTLOOK

Meanwhile, the BSP said that business sentiment was “less bullish” in the first quarter.

“Firms were optimistic, however their optimism decreased from the previous period’s results,” Mr. Alegre said.

The confidence index for businesses eased slightly to 33.1% in the first quarter from 35.9% a quarter ago.

The main drivers for a less upbeat outlook were expectations of a decline in demand after the holidays, persistent inflation risks, stiff competition, and impact of the El Niño on agriculture.

Meanwhile, firms’ confidence was “more buoyant” in the second quarter. The index jumped to 48.1% from 38.2%.

“The firms’ more optimistic outlook for Q2 2024 was attributed to their expectations of higher demand for products and services, completion of more projects due to a more conducive business environment, seasonal uptick in business activities in the tourism and fisheries sub-sectors during the summer and open fishing seasons, business expansions and development of new products, and easing inflation,” the BSP said.

Businesses were also more upbeat for the next 12 months as the overall index rose to 60.8% from 54%.

“Compared to Q4 2023, the sentiment of firms in Q1 2024 was less upbeat for the industry and wholesale and retail trade sectors, more buoyant for the construction sector and steady for the services sector,” the BSP said.

“The business sentiment for Q2 2024 was more optimistic across all sectors,” it added.

Both households and businesses expect higher inflation and interest rates in the first half of the year and for next 12 months.

Firms see inflation averaging 5%, while consumers expect inflation to average 5.3%. This would be above the BSP’s 2-4% target and higher than the central bank’s 3.8% full-year forecast for 2024.

The BSP said that 5,207 households participated in the survey conducted from Jan. 19-31 while there were 1,525 firms surveyed from Jan. 5-12.

Source: Business World