Abstract

Issues of unemployment are widespread globally, impacting living standards and economies. It is measured by the proportion of jobless individuals actively seeking employment but unable to find it. Higher unemployment rates signal economic strain which affects both individuals and governments. Coronavirus disease or COVID-19 has led to significant job loss not only in Asia but at a global level. Thus, this study is motivated to compare and investigate the impact of the jobless rate with its factor determinations during the turbulent crisis, especially during the economic crisis and post-COVID-19 pandemic in Asia’s neighbouring region. Secondary data were retrieved from the CEIC Data Global Database for 9 countries based on unbalanced monthly data, from January 2020 to December 2023, and run using pooled OLS, robust and multivariate regressions. Overall, the results show a significant relationship between the jobless rate and its determinants in all countries except Japan and Singapore, consistent with the Philip Curve theory.

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