As the Philippines continues to move forward in this post-pandemic age, the national unemployment rate fell down to 4.4% this past August, according to a Manila Standard news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Manila Standard news report. Some parts in boldface…
The unemployment rate in the Philippines fell to a three-month low of 4.4 percent in August 2023 from 4.8 percent in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Friday.
National statistician and civil registrar-general Dennis Mapa said in an online briefing the August unemployment rate was also lower than 5.3 percent recorded a year ago.
This translated to about 468,000 fewer unemployed individuals in August, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
“In terms of magnitude, there were 2.21 million unemployed Filipinos aged 15 years and over in August 2023,” Mapa said.
“It was also lower than the 2.27 million unemployed in July 2023 and 2.68 million a year ago,” he said.
The underemployment rate also fell from 14.7 percent in August 2022 and 15.9 percent in July 2023 to 11.7 percent in August this year. This was equivalent to 1.4 million fewer underemployed persons, particularly among those employed in the services and industry sectors.
Underemployed persons are those who have 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.
The number of employed persons aged 15 years and over in August 2023 increased to 48.07 million from 47.87 million a year earlier. This translated into 95.6 percent employment rate, higher than the reported employment rate in August 2022 and July 2023 at 94.7 percent and 95.2 percent, respectively.
Total employment increased 203,000 in the agriculture and industry sectors.
Mapa said the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in August reached 64.7 percent, lower than 66.1 percent a year ago, but higher than 60.1 percent in July 2023.
NEDA underscored the Marcos administration’s commitment to generating high-quality and high-paying job opportunities for workers.
NEDA said that apart from the decline in underemployment, several other indicators pointed to an accompanying increase in the quality of employment, including the increase in wage and salary, and full-time employment, and the decline in vulnerable and part-time employment.
“However, much remains to be done as the number of middle- and high-skilled occupations decreased (-354,000), while low-skilled occupations increased (+551,000) compared to the previous year,” NEDA said.
NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government would continue its efforts to create better job opportunities for workers in the country.
“To raise the quality of employment further, the Marcos administration is committed to exerting all efforts to shape an attractive business climate for investors who have the resources needed to bring in high-quality and high-paying jobs,” he said.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Were there many people in your local community who were fortunate to get a new job over the past twelve months?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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