Unemployment in the Philippines Now At Record Low, According to the PSA
There are jobless jobless Filipinos now, according to the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA). The current rates are apparently the lowest since 2005, based on the latest labor survey.
Out of 52 million professionals in the labor force, the unemployment numbers were said to have shrunk from 1.83 million unemployed Filipinos in November 2023 to 1.6 million in the following month. Year-on-year numbers also say that there are 600,000 or so more jobless individuals compared to the 2.22 million posted the year prior. This adds up to roughly 31 out of 1,000 individuals who don't have any livelihood.
These five sectors came out with the largest increase in employed persons:
1| Manufacturing: 846,000
2| Construction: 462,000
3| Agriculture and forestry: 300,000
4| Accommodation and food service activities: 174,000
5| Public administration and defense; compulsory social security :148,000
As for the largest fall in employed persons, these industries suffered the worst:
1| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles: -655,000
2| Administrative and support service activities: -183,000
3| Transportation and storage: -181,000
4| Fishing and aquaculture: -174,000
5| Financial and insurance activities: -99,000
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”We welcome the news of a record-low unemployment rate, signifying the economy’s sustained momentum and resiliency of our labor market,” Secretary Arsenio Balisacan of the National Economic and Development Authority said in a statement. "...we will continue ramping up social and physical infrastructure investments and dramatically improve human capital to strengthen our people’s employment prospects."
Underemployment, meanwhile, is another issue. To be underemployed means that workers aren't paid enough or aren't doing work that utilizes their capabilities. This can also be a good metric for job quality. In December 2023, underemployment clocked in at 11.9 percent, which is higher than November's figures (11.7 percent). A year earlier, underemployment was found to be at 12.6 percent.
Most workers are still employed at private institutions, getting about 78 percent of the share. Filipinos who were employed by the state were at 14 percent. Those who are categorized as "self-employed" without any paid employee or unpaid family workers took about 27 percent and 8 percent of the grouping.
