Jobless rate further shrinks to 3.6% — PSA

MANILA, Philippines — The number of unemployed Filipinos decreased in November 2023, with unemployment rate reaching the lowest in recent years, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday.

In a press conference on Tuesday morning, National Statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa reported that the number of unemployed persons ages 15 and above declined to 1.83 million in November 2023, down from 2.09 million in the previous month.

“Ang unemployment rate ay naitala sa 3.6 percent, o tatlumpu’t anim sa kada isang libo, na indibidwal na nasa labor force ang walang trabaho o negosyo nitong Nobyembre 2023,” Mapa said. 

(The unemployment rate was recorded at 3.6%, or thirty-six out of every 1,000 individual in the labor force does not have a job or business in November 2023.)

This means that the number of jobless individuals decreased by 275,000, higher than the 2.18 million unemployed Filipinos in the same period in November 2022.

This has been the lowest unemployment rate since April 2005, according to Mapa.

Among the unemployed, the PSA reported that 32 out of 1000, or 3.2% of males had no jobs in November 2023. This is lower than the 4.1% unemployment rate for women. 

The PSA also reported that there were 5.79 million underemployed individuals or those who expressed a desire to have an additional job or hours of work in November 2023, an increase from the 5.60 million in October 2023.

The figures are lower than the 7.26 million in November 2022. 

Employment rate

Meanwhile, the Philippines in November 2023 also posted a 96.4% employment rate equivalent to 49.64 million Filipinos who have jobs, a slight increase from October 2023’s 47.80 million employed Filipinos.

However, this is a slight decrease from the November 2022 numbers of 49.71 million. 

According to the PSA, the following sectors had the most increase in employment:

• Agriculture and forestry with an increase of 1.24 million
• Construction with an increase of 453,000
• Transportation and storage with an increase of 308,000
• Fishing and aquaculture with an increase of 305,000
• Administrative and support service activities with an increase of 189,000

The labor force participation rate, or the total number of employed and unemployed individuals ages 15 and above is 65.9% or 51.47 million Filipinos. This is slightly higher than the 49.89 million Filipinos in October 2023 but lower than the 51.88 million in November 2022.

In a statement, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) attributed the shrinking of the labor force participation rate to the decline in the number of youth and women in the labor force.

The decline is due to “family responsibilities, schooling, and age-related factors,” according to NEDA.

In the same statement, NEDA chief Arsenio Balisacan stressed the importance of enlarging the digital economy, covering the digitization of micro, small and medium enterprises and startups, to tackle the diminishing labor force and enhance labor market gains.

“Digitalization enables alternative work arrangements, particularly for the youth, women, and those in the creative sector. This will help address the declining labor force,” Balisacan said.

“We will take full advantage of the liberalization reforms intended to attract investments in the Philippines, especially in digital infrastructure. Upgrading our infrastructure will attract investments that generate high-quality jobs,” he added.

The PSA’s survey on the labor force was conducted from November 8 to 28 with 31,792 individuals participating in the labor poll.

Last week, the PSA also reported a shrink in the country’s inflation rate posting a slowdown of 3.9%, bringing the year-to-date inflation to 6%.