Behind the Marcos regime’s boast that the Philippine job market is “vibrant,” an increasing number of young people could not find work in July.

In data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority, 1.02 million or 43% of all unemployed are youth, age 15-24. Of this number, a large majority or 91% are categorized as “not in education, employment or training” or NEET and thus are at risk of falling into poverty.

Many of them are students who graduated from high school and college in June. The PSA data said 6.89 million young people entered the labor force during that month.

The Marcos regime officials blamed July’s unemployment on weather disturbances, as well as on the workers “lack of proper skills” for the “dynamic labor market.” For decades, officials have been spouting the so-called “job mismatch” to cover up the fact that there is a dearth of quality jobs in the country, especially for those who have graduated from K-12 and college.

The number of youth unemployed is highest in the National Capital Region, which is considered the center of politics and commerce. In July, youth unemployment here was recorded at 6.5%, higher than the overall national average of 4.7%. Youth unemployment is also high in Region IV-A (Calabarzon) at 5.2%, and Region VII (Central Visayas) despite having cities with relatively higher urbanization.

In the same month, the labor force participation rate, or number of Filipinos, age 15-and above, who are considered part of the labor force dropped from 66% in June, to 63.5%.

For consolation, the PSA said more than a million young people could potentially find jobs as the holidays are near. However, these jobs are seasonal, temporary, irregular, low-wage and often far from the specializations, subjects and courses the new graduates studied in college and senior high school.