The country’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.5 percent in April 2023 from 5.7 percent a year ago and 4.7 percent in March 2023 as more jobs were created during the month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.
The PSA said the number of unemployed persons in April 2023 was estimated at 2.26 million, a decline of 506,000 from the 2.76 million unemployed persons in April 2022.
In a press briefing, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Dennis Mapa said the employment rate in April 2023 stood at 95.5 percent, higher than 94.3 percent in April 2022 and 95.2 percent in January 2023.
“In terms of magnitude, the number of employed persons rose to 48.06 million in April 2023, from 45.63 million in the same period of 2022. The number of employed persons in April 2023 was also higher than the reported 47.35 million employed persons in January 2023,” Mapa said.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government aims to sustain the recent improvements in the country’s labor market by implementing crucial economic reforms and leveraging digital technology to enhance workers’ employability.
“To ensure the continuation of this trend, the government affirms its commitment to the unimpeded implementation of economic liberalization reforms and other essential legislation. These efforts will be complemented by comprehensive collaboration among government entities and society as a whole to enhance the employability and productivity of our workforce,” Balisacan said.
He added that the government can capitalize on digital technologies to foster innovation, upgrade services, and effectively respond to the needs of the workforce.
“Hence, the complete execution of the Philippine Digital Workforce Competitiveness Act is also vital for equipping the workforce with digital technology skills and fostering innovation,” he said.
The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) increased to 65.1 percent in April 2023 or about 50.31 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and over who were either employed or unemployed. The reported LFPR in April 2023 was higher than the reported rate of 63.4 percent in April 2022 and 64.5 percent in January 2023.
The number of underemployed persons or employed persons who expressed the desire to have an additional hour of work in their present job or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work was registered at 6.20 million, translating to an underemployment rate of 12.9 percent. This was lower than the reported rate in April 2022 (14.0 percent) and January 2023 (14.1 percent).
The unemployment rate for males was registered at 4.8 percent of the 29.27 million males in the labor force, while 4.0 percent of the 21.04 million females in the labor force were unemployed in April 2023.
By broad industry group, the services sector continued to dominate the labor market, having the largest share of employed persons of about 61.1 percent of the total employed persons in April 2023. The agriculture and the industry sectors accounted for 21.9 percent and 17.0 percent, respectively.
“The year-on-year gain in employment was driven by the services sector,” Mapa said..
The top five sub-sectors with the highest increase on the number of employed persons from April 2022 to April 2023 were wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (914,000); accommodation and food service activities (379,000); administrative and support service activities (345,000); transportation and storage (321,000); and other service activities (242,000).
Wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons at 61.5 percent of the total employed persons in April 2023. This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.5 percent and unpaid family workers at 8.5 percent. Employees in own family-operated farms or businesses had the lowest share of 2.5 percent.
Among wage and salary workers, employed persons in private establishments made up 47.6 percent of the total employed, followed by employed in government or government-controlled corporations with 9.2 percent share. Government workers made up the balance of 43.2 percent.
On average, employed persons worked 36.9 hours per week, a drop from the recorded 40.1 hours per week average hours worked in April 2022 and 39.6 hours per week in January 2023.
Across regions, Region II posted the highest employment rate of 97.6 percent. This was followed by Cordillera Administrative Region (97.3 percent), Region IX (97.3 percent), MIMAROPA (97.1 percent), and Region XIII (97.0 percent).
The unemployment rate at the regional level showed that five of the 17 regions posted an unemployment rate higher than the national rate of 4.5 percent in April 2023, namely, Region IV-A (5.5 percent), National Capital Region (5.3 percent), Region X (5.3 percent), Region VII (5.2 percent), and Region III (4.7 percent).
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.
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said despite the easing of unemployment, the country still had a long way to go to provide permanent solutions to its employment woes.
Villanueva also said the underemployment rate from 11.2 percent or 5.44 million Filipinos in March to 12.9 percent or 6.2 million Filipinos in April is a cause for concern.
He said that while job gains were seen in the services sector, job losses were posted in industries that are key to economic transformation, such as agriculture and forestry, manufacturing and construction.
“Seasonality of employment must also be addressed continuously,” he said.
For this reason, Villanueva said it is important to have a comprehensive employment master plan involving all concerned government agencies to address employment woes like job-skills mismatch and training.