Jobless rate falls to 3.1% in June, says PSA

(File photo from RAFFY LERMA)

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.1 percent in June as more Filipinos entered the labor force, particularly in the construction sector, which saw a boost from increased economic activity.

The report comes from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday.

This figure translated to 2.04 million unemployed Filipinos.

Preliminary results of the statistics agency’s June round of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) showed the unemployment rate in June matched the December 2023 figure and marked the lowest since 2005.

This was an improvement from 4.1 percent in the previous month and the 4.5 percent last year.

The underemployment rate – the share of those already working but still looking for more work or longer working hours to the total employed population – increased to 12.1 percent in June from 9.9 percent in the preceding month and 12 percent a year ago.

This translated to 6 million Filipinos looking for an additional job or longer working hours.

Underemployment in June was the highest since the 14.6 percent in April

The labor force participation rate (LFPR) – the proportion of the total labor in the working-age population of 15 years old and over – went up to 66 percent from 64.8 percent in the previous month but lower than 66.1 percent last year.

Likewise, the employment rate rose to 96.9 percent, up from 95.9 percent logged in May.

There were 50.2 million employed Filipinos in June, higher than 48.8 million in the previous month and 48.8 million a year ago.

The employment rate matched the December 2023 result.

By broad industry group, the services sector remained the top sector in terms of the number of employed persons with a share of 58.7 percent of the total employed persons.

The agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 21.1 percent and 20.2 percent of the employed persons.