By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINES’ unemployment rate fell to three.7% in September, driven partially by a growing variety of female employees joining the labor force ahead of the vacation season, the statistics agency said on Wednesday.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) Labor Force Survey showed the jobless rate dropped to three.7% in September from 4% in August and 4.5% in September last 12 months.
This translated to 1.89 million unemployed Filipinos in September, down by 177,000 from August and by 370,000 from a 12 months earlier.
Despite the lower jobless rate, underemployment rose to 11.9% in September from 11.2% in August and 10.7% in September last 12 months.
The variety of underemployed Filipinos — those that want longer work hours or an extra job — increased by 831,000 to five.94 million in September from 5.11 million a 12 months ago.
Within the first nine months of the 12 months, the unemployment rate averaged 4%, lower than the 4.6% average a 12 months ago.
PSA data showed the employment rate went as much as 96.3% in September from 95.5% a 12 months ago. That is corresponding to 49.87 million employed Filipinos, up by 2.2 million from 47.67 million in September 2023.
In September, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) increased to 65.7% in September, from 64.1% a 12 months ago. This translates to a labor force of 51.77 million in September, up 1.84 million from 49.93 million a 12 months ago.
Undersecretary and National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said 1.34 million of those recent employees were women.
“In [the number of] employed individuals 12 months on 12 months, the bulk listed here are actually female employees,” he told a news briefing in mixed English and Filipino.
He noted there was a gentle increase in female employees for the past three months.
The LFPR amongst female Filipino employees rose to 55.7% in September from 53.4% a 12 months ago. For male employees, the speed also rose to 75.6% from 74.7% a 12 months ago.
“By and enormous, increasingly women and youth are entering the labor force. This bodes well for our economic outlook as more Filipinos see increasing job opportunities. As the vacation season approaches, we expect more employment available in retail trade in addition to accommodation and food services,” Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said in a press release.
Of the 883,000 recent employees seen in September, the majority or 802,000 were youth, bringing the youth employment rate to 90%.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the federal government will proceed to implement supply-side and demand-side interventions to make sure the federal government will hit quality employment targets.
“The federal government is urgently addressing the constraints to high-quality job creation and collaborating with the private sector to capacitate our employees with the correct skills and competencies concurrently,” he added.
Mr. Balisacan said the NEDA can also be working to finalize the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Plan, a 10-year roadmap to encourage investments in priority sectors, improve the employability of the present and future workforce, and enhance labor market governance for the subsequent decade.
DECLINING JOBS
By industry, the services sector continued to employ the most important variety of Filipinos with 31.31 million employees in September.
This was followed by the agriculture sector, which employed 9.48 million, and the industry sector with 8.56 million employees.
Meanwhile, the executive and support service activities industry gained the most important number of latest employees 12 months on 12 months with 735,000.
Service activities added 559,000 employees 12 months on 12 months, followed by wholesale and retail trade; repair of motorcars and motorcycles with 486,000 and public administration and defense with 333,000.
The manufacturing sector added 200,000 jobs 12 months on 12 months within the third quarter.
However, accommodation and food service activities had the most important annual decrease in jobs with 242,000, followed by agriculture and forestry (210,000), fishing and aquaculture (136,000) and construction (87,000).
On average, employed Filipinos worked 40.3 hours per week, barely lower than the 40.7 hours in August and 40.8 hours in September 2023.
University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations Assistant Professor Benjamin B. Velasco said the September unemployment and underemployment data implies that “more people entered the labor force but found part-time or temporary jobs only.”
“That is revealed within the rise in LFPR but lower average hours of labor per week together with a rise in people wanting more hours of labor,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
“This may mean a greater variety of young people employed in freelance work like virtual assistants, internet-based tasks, or delivery riders as shown within the comparative increases in sub-sectors like admin and support services and other service activities,” he added.
University of the Philippines Baguio economics instructor Edgar Antonio C. Suguitan said the underemployment trend reflects the precarious nature of employment within the country.
“It is an indication of a weakness of the economy since the economy doesn’t have the capability to accommodate a growing labor force,” he told BusinessWorld in a Facebook Messenger chat.
“Rampant within the labor market is that this employment ‘flexibility’ as many employees are given temporary contracts,” he added.
Federation of Free Employees (FFW) President Jose Sonny G. Matula sounded the alarm over the rise in underemployment, which he said suggested employees’ incomes are insufficient to satisfy basic needs, driving them to hunt more jobs to survive.
“This financial strain has potential health consequences for employees who’re compelled to work longer hours or multiple jobs simply to make ends meet,” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber chat.
He said the decline of employment within the wholesale and retail, construction, human health, and social work activities sectors was concerning.
“While the rise in overall employment indicates resilience in certain areas of the economy, the downturn in these key sectors highlights underlying vulnerabilities,” he said.
PSA data showed wholesale and retail trade lost 597,000 employees month on month. Followed by 284,000 in construction and 177,000 in human health and social work activities.
The labor group leader said wholesale and retail are “traditionally a cornerstone for job creation.” Its decline in employees could potentially impact small businesses and consumer activity, he added.
