Philippine unemployment rate rose to 3.9% in March

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ unemployment rate jumped to 3.9 percent in March, from 3.5 percent in February, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Wednesday.

That means there were two million Filipinos who were either jobless or out of business in March, up from 1.8 million in the preceding month, results of a nationwide survey of 11,114 households showed.

READ: Unemployment rate down to 3.5%, job quality better in February

The rise in jobless rate coincided with an increase in the number of the country’s labor force to 51.5 million, from 50.75 previously. That translated to a labor force participation rate of 65.3 percent in March, up from 64.8 percent in February.

Meanwhile, job quality improved after the underemployment rate eased to 11 percent in March, from 12.4 percent previously.