Unemployed Filipinos rise slightly to 2.59M in June

MANILA, Philippines — Unemployed Filipinos inched up to 2.59 million in June from 2.50 million in May, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.

This translated to an unemployment rate of 4.9 percent, slightly higher than the 4.8 percent recorded in May.

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Meanwhile, the number of employed Filipinos rose to 50.66 million from 49.63 million. Despite the increase, the employment rate eased to 95.1 percent from 95.2 percent in May.

Labor force participation also improved, with 53.25 million Filipinos either employed or actively looking for work, equivalent to a 65.1-percent participation rate, up from 52.13 million or 63.8 percent in the previous month.

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Underemployment—or the number of employed Filipinos seeking additional work or longer working hours to improve their income—rose to 6.11 million from 6.04 million. However, the underemployment rate slightly dropped to 12.1 percent from 12.2 percent in May. /pai INQ