The unemployment rate eased to 6 percent in June from 7.7 percent a year ago, as more than 1.5 million Filipinos joined the labor force this year, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Monday.
National statistician and civil registrar general Dennis Mapa said in an online briefing this translated into 2.99 million unemployed Filipinos of the 49.58 million who were in the labor force as of June.
Unemployment rate was also at 6 percent in May.
Employment grew across the industry, agriculture and services sectors amid the easing of restrictions.
“There are significant increases in employment in the agriculture and forestry sector due to the harvest season… We hope the downward trend [in unemployment] will continue, but we will see what will happen in July 2022,” Mapa said.
Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the country needed to sustain the safe and full reopening of the economy to return to a high-growth path and reinvigorate job creation.
“In the near term, we will prioritize the immediate issues of rising inflation, the vulnerability of certain groups to shocks and the pandemic-induced scarring to ensure that growth and employment gains are sustained,” Balisacan said.
He said the reopening of the economy, including the resumption of face-to-face schooling, would boost domestic activities and insulate the economy from external headwinds.
The underemployment rate, or the proportion of those already employed but still wanting more work, also dropped to 12.6 percent from 14.2 percent in June 2021.
“The latest data show a significant increase in the number of workers employed on a full-time basis. While this is a good indication of the improving quality of work in our country, the government should incessantly boost its efforts towards providing an environment conducive to the creation of more and better employment opportunities,” Balisacan said.