The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday that more Filipinos found jobs in August, leading to the lowest jobless rate in three months, with better job quality.
The jobless rate — the share of unemployed Filipinos to the total workforce — hit 4.4% in August, preliminary results of the latest Labor Force Survey showed. This was smaller than the 4.8% recorded in July and the 5.3% logged in August last year.
This share was the lowest since 4.3% in May.
This translated to 2.14 million jobless Filipinos as of August, about 60,000 fewer than 2.27 million from the previous month. It was also down by 468,000 from 2.68 million in August 2022.
The ranks of employed Filipinos in August reached 48.07 million, an addition of around 3.44 million from 44.63 million in July. This level was also greater than 47.87 million tallied in August last year.
The employment rate inched up to 95.6% that month from 95.2% in July. This was also better than 94.7% in the same month last year.
Job quality improved in August as the underemployment rate — the share of employed Filipinos who want to have additional hours of work in their present job, an additional job, or a new job with longer working hours to the total employed population — slid to 11.7% from 15.9% the previous month. It was also down from 14.7% in the same month in 2022.
It was the lowest share in five months or since the 11.2% in March.
The underemployed Filipinos totaled 5.63 million in August, falling from 7.10 million in July and 7.03 million in 2022.
In a statement, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) attributed the government’s efforts to create high-quality jobs as the reason for the decrease in both unemployment and underemployment.
In a separate press chat on Friday, NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said that the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) is working not just on reducing unemployment and underemployment but is also geared to “the creation of [high-quality] jobs that offer everyone decent pay.”
“We need nothing less than a massive investment to create high-quality jobs. That’s why our economic team, our President, has been marketing the country not only to local entrepreneurs here but also to foreign investors to come and invest in the Philippines. That’s what will create high-quality jobs,” Mr. Balisacan said.
The size of the labor force expanded month on month by 3.38 million to 50.29 million in August. However, it declined by 265,000 from 50.55 million in August last year.
This translated to a labor force participation rate of 64.7% that month, picking up from 60.1% in July but smaller compared with the 66.1% in August 2022.
Meanwhile, fewer fresh job seekers entered the labor force in August as new entrants that month totaled 754,000 from 1.64 million in July. It was also lower than the 1.02 million new entrants logged in August last year.
Year to date, unemployment averaged 4.6%, lower than 5.8% in the January-August period last year.
In the eight months to August, the underemployment rate averaged 12.8% (from 14.3%); the employment rate reached 95.4% (from 94.2%); and the LFPR averaged 64.8% (from 64.2%).
Filipinos worked for an average of 40.8 hours a week in August, down from 42.3 hours in July. Compared to August last year, this was a bit more from 40.5 hours a week.
Services remained the country’s top employer in August with a 57.3% share, while the agriculture sector cornered 24.5% and industry accounted for 18.2%.
On an annual basis, job gains were seen in the following subsectors: fishing and aquaculture (up by 572,000); construction (up by 534,000); agriculture and forestry (up by 378,000); human health and social work activities (up by 153,000); and administrative and support activities (up by 143,000).
Meanwhile, agriculture and forestry led the month-on-month job improvement in August after adding 1.97 million employees. It was followed by wholesale and retail trade (up by 1.13 million); construction (up by 286,000); fishing and aquaculture (up by 206,000); and education (up by 182,000).
Josua T. Mata, secretary-general of Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa, said in a Viber message that while employment figures slightly improved, the quality of jobs being generated remains low with slightly less than a fifth of those in the labor force being either unemployed or underemployed.
He said that the country’s economic performance is still not improving and that the government will have to revise its strategy and start a “robust” public employment plan to achieve the needed jobs.
“As such, the aim of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 to accelerate poverty reduction by steering the economy back on a high-growth path will remain nothing but an empty promise,” Mr. Mata said in a Viber message. — Andrea C. Abestano with inputs from Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
