The number of unemployed Filipinos for September 2024 was posted at 1.89 million, the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) labor survey found.
The unemployment rate for September 2024 was posted at 3.7%, slightly lower compared to the percentage in September 2023, which was posted at 4.5%. Additionally, the PSA noted that in August 2024, the estimated rate was at 4.0%.
Although it posed a slight increase in employed individuals, the PSA noted that in terms of magnitude, the number of unemployed individuals was posted at 1.89 million. According to their data, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in September 2024 was estimated at 65.7%, a higher estimated rate than the previous year.
“The reported LFPR in September 2024 translates to a total of 51.77 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and over who were in the labor force, or those who were either employed or unemployed,” the PSA said.
The PSA also found that employed persons worked 40.3 hours per week on average.
Meanwhile, the underemployment rate for September increased to 11.2% in August this year. That makes 5.94 million of the 49.87 million employed persons in the earlier months have expressed the desire to have additional work hours in their present job or apply for an additional job. It also stated that some of the workers wanted a new job with longer work hours.
For the top five sub-sectors in the workforce, employees for the following sectors doubled in September 2024:
- Administrative and Support Service Activities (735,000)
- Other Service Activities (559,000)
- Wholesale and Retail Trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (486,000)
- Public Administration and Defense; compulsory social security (333,000); and
- Manufacturing (200,000)
In contrast to that, the highest decreases for each sector were listed as the following:
- Accommodation and Food Service Activities (-242,000)
- Agriculture and Forestry (-210,000)
- Fishing and Aquaculture (-136,000)
- Construction (-87,000)
- Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply (-83,000)
On the other hand, wage and salary workers had the largest share of employed persons accumulating 63.9% of the total number of employed persons in September 2024. It was closely followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.4%, and unpaid family workers at 6.6%.
