(UPDATES) UNEMPLOYMENT hit a six-month low in June even as job quality worsened, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Wednesday.
At 3.1 percent, the country’s jobless rate was lower than May’s 4.1 percent and matched the result seen in December 2023. It also improved from the 4.5 percent recorded a year earlier.
It was equivalent to 1.62 million unemployed Filipinos, 490,000 and 710,000 less, respectively, than May’s 2.11 million and June 2023’s 2.33 million.
But underemployment, which counts those looking for more work or an extra job, rose to 12.1 percent from 9.9 percent in May and 12.0 percent in June 2023.
The number of the underemployed was said to be equivalent to 6.08 million, up from 4.8 million in May and 5.87 million in June last year.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government was working to improve the quality of jobs even as he welcomed the overall improvement in the labor market.
The Labor Force Participation Rate — the number of persons in the labor force as a percentage of the working-age population — rose to 66.0 percent from May’s 64.8 percent but was slightly lower than June 2023’s 66.1 percent.
Services continued to account for the biggest share of jobs at 58.7 percent, while the agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 21.1 percent and 20.2 percent, respectively.
Wage and salary workers again comprised the bulk of those with jobs at 63.8 percent, followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.0 percent and unpaid family workers at 5.0 percent.
Employers in their own family-operated farms or businesses had the lowest share of 1.7 percent.
Private sector workers accounted for 80.5 percent of wage and salary workers, followed by those employed by the government or state-owned firms at 12.5 percent.
In a separate statement, Balisacan said the government was intensifying efforts to create high-quality job opportunities for Filipinos.
He attributed the June employment gains to the swift implementation of infrastructure projects and the ongoing improvement of operating conditions for manufacturing firms.
He also said that increased investments in renewable energy, water supply, and mining and quarrying had supported employment growth in these sectors.
“To sustain these gains, we will persist in improving the country’s business climate to attract investments that generate higher-quality jobs,” Balisacan said.
“The government will address bottlenecks and expedite processes to fulfill investment pledges and reap the benefits of liberalization reforms,” he added.
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