The country’s unemployment rate declined in March, while significant gains were also seen in terms of job quality, the latest labor force survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
The unemployment rate in March 2023 dropped to 4.7 percent, from 5.8 percent in March 2022 and 4.8 percent in February 2023.
This translates to 2.42 million unemployed Filipinos out of 51 million Filipinos who were in the labor force in March.
The underemployment rate also 3 went down to 11.2 percent, from 15.8 percent in the same month last year and 12.9 percent in February 2023. This is the lowest underemployment rate reported since April 2005.
In order to sustainably raise wages and improve worker welfare, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said that the government is addressing persistent issues and constraints to improving labor productivity and high-quality job generation.
“Investors must not be kept waiting – we must create an enabling regulatory environment that makes it easy for them to set up shop, expand, and generate the high-quality jobs we need,” he added.
The employment rate meanwhile was estimated at 95.3 percent better than the previous year’s 94.2 percent and the previous month’s 95.2 percent.
In terms of magnitude, the number of employed persons in March 2023 was estimated at 48.58 million, an increase from the 46.98 million employed persons in March 2022.