THE country’s unemployment rate in June 2023 declined to 4.5 percent from 6 percent a year ago as the number of unemployed individuals went down from 2.99 million to 2.33 million, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday.
But the June unemployment rate was slightly higher than the 4.3 percent a month ago due to lost jobs in agriculture, manufacturing
and other sectors.
“Not all of those in the labor force were able to find a job. So that contributed to the unemployed in June,” national statistician and
civil registrar general Dennis Mapa said in an online briefing.
Mapa said the country’s employment rate in June 2023 was estimated at 95.5 percent. This was higher than the reported 94.0 percent
employment rate in the same month last year, but slightly lower than the 95.7 percent estimate in May 2023.
“In terms of magnitude, the number of employed persons was posted at 48.84 million in June 2023, while 46.59 million in June 2022. In May
2023, the number of employed persons was 48.26 million,” Mapa said.
The number of unemployed workers in June 2023 decreased to 2.33 million from 2.99 million in June 2022, posting a year-on-year decline of 663,000 unemployed persons. Ho ever, the number of unemployed persons in June 2023 was higher by 159,000 compared with the number of unemployed persons in May 2023.
The sub-sectors that had the highest drop in the number of employed persons from June 2022 to June 2023 are fishing and aquaculture (233,000); manufacturing (99,000); professional, scientific andtechnical activities (65,000); mining and quarrying (62,000); and information and communication (45,000).
Mapa said it would be seen in the July and August rounds of the labor force survey if the recent typhoons caused significant job losses in
the agriculture sector.
National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government is committed to labor upskilling in
order to improve employability and maximize the benefits of the country’s demographic dividend.
“As the number of young workers continues to expand, the Marcos administration is exerting efforts to focus on training and upskilling
to improve their employability for high-quality and high-paying jobs,” Balisacan said.
In the 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the PSA, it was found that the total fertility rate of Filipino women aged 15
to 49 years declined from 2.7 children per woman in 2017 to 1.9 children per woman in 2022.
This change leads to an overall increase in the working-age population (15-64 years of age) over time, the so-called demographic transition.
Balisacan said when this is accompanied by higher investments in human capital and more high-quality job opportunities, then this translates
to a demographic dividend.
Chapter 4 of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 outlines recommendations for equipping the young workforce with the necessary
skills to enhance the income-earning potential of Filipino workers.
Moreover, it indicates that promoting further investments in technical and vocational education and training centers, digitalization, and
innovation facilities is crucial for improving the skills and competitiveness of the Philippine workforce.
Balisacan said this is critical, considering the entry of new and disruptive technologies.
The Labor Force Participation Rate in June 2023 was estimated at 66.1 percent, higher than the recorded LFPR in June 2022 (64.8 percent) and
May 2023 (65.3 percent).
The average hours worked by an employed person in June 2023 increased to 40.0 hours per week, which was slightly lower compared with that of
June 2022 at 40.3 hours per week but higher than the reported average hours worked in May 2023 at 39.3 hours per week.
The underemployment rate in June 2023 was posted at 12.0 percent. This was equivalent to 5.87 million employed Filipinos who expressed the
desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of
work.
In June 2022, this was estimated at 12.6 percent and in May 2023 at 11.7 percent.
By broad industry group, the services sector continued its dominance among the sectors in terms of number of employed persons with a share
of 58.2 percent. The agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 23.8 percent and 18.0 percent share, respectively.
For the month-on-month changes in the number of employed persons in June 2023, the top five subsectors with the largest increases were
construction (488,000); agriculture and forestry (469,000); administrative and support service activities (308,000); public administration and defense; compulsory social security (128,000); and accommodation and food service activities (104,000).
Wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons with 61.5 percent of the total employed persons in
June 2023. This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.1 percent and unpaid family workers at 9.5 percent.
Employers in their own family-operated farm or business had the lowest share of 1.9 percent.
Among wage and salary workers, those who work in private establishments remained the highest group with 47.6 percentage points,
followed by those who work in the government or government-controlled corporations with 9.4 percentage points and those workers in private
household with 4.2 percentage points.
Youth employment rate was estimated at 90.1 percent or 6.45 million employed youth out of the 7.16 million youth labor force. This was
higher than the recorded estimate of 88.2 percent in June 2022 and 89.4 percent reported in May 2023.
Unemployment rate among youth was recorded at 9.9 percent or 711,000 out of the 7.16 million youth labor force.
Government data show the country’s unemployment rate averaged 8.59 percent from 1986 until 2022, reaching an all-time high of 17.60
percent in June of 2020 at the height of the strict lockdowns during the pandemic.