Joblessness among adults stood at 19.0% of the adult labor force, the Social Weather Survey (SWS) revealed on their March 26-29, 2023 <a href="https://www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?artcsyscode=ART-20230524123055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a>.
This figure reflects a decline of 2.3 percentage points compared to December 2022 and a significant decrease of 7 points compared to April 2022.&nbsp;
However, it remained 1.5 points higher than the pre-pandemic level of 17.5% in December 2019.
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According to the survey, the estimated number of jobless individuals reached 8.7 million in March 2023, with 9.6 million reported in December 2022.
The SWS defines the Labor Force as consisting of adults aged 18 and above who are currently employed or actively seeking employment. The Labor Force Participation Rate indicates the proportion of adults within the labor force.&nbsp;
In the March 2023 survey, the Labor Force Participation Rate was found to be 62.4%, equivalent to an estimated 45.9 million individuals.&nbsp;This percentage was slightly lower than the rate in December 2022, which stood at 62.6%, corresponding to an estimated 45.2 million individuals.
Those classified as jobless include individuals who voluntarily left their previous jobs, those seeking employment for the first time, or those who lost their jobs due to external economic circumstances beyond their control.
Decrease in joblessness except in Mindanao
In terms of regional variations, the survey results from March 2023 revealed that adult joblessness was highest in Balance Luzon at 21.7%, followed by Mindanao at 19.0%, Metro Manila at 17.5%, and the Visayas at 13.5%.&nbsp;
Comparing these figures to those of December 2022, there was a decrease in quarterly joblessness in Metro Manila (24.8%), Balance Luzon (23.1%), and the Visayas (18.6%).&nbsp;
However, the joblessness rate in Mindanao (18.1%) remained relatively stable.
Higher joblessness rate in women
When examining joblessness by gender, the survey findings indicated that women experienced a higher joblessness rate at 30.2% compared to men at 11.6% as of March 2023.&nbsp;
Comparatively, joblessness among men decreased from 15.2% in December 2022, while joblessness among women experienced only a marginal change from 29.7%.
Joblessness falls in rural areas
Furthermore, the survey highlighted that joblessness was more prevalent in urban areas, with an unemployment rate of 21.6%, compared to 14.6% in rural areas.&nbsp;
Comparing the data to December 2022, joblessness decreased in rural areas from 21.2% but remained relatively steady in urban areas at 21.3%.
This disparity in joblessness between urban and rural areas led to a widening of the urban-rural joblessness gap from 0.1 points to 7.0 points. It is worth noting that this double-digit gap has only occurred in 10 out of 117 surveys conducted since September 1993.
The First Quarter 2023 Social Weather Survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults aged 18 and above nationwide.&nbsp;
The sample size was distributed equally among Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, with 300 respondents in each region.&nbsp;
It is important to note that the survey items reported are non-commissioned and are included by the SWS as part of their public service initiative.&nbsp;

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SWS: Joblessness in PH falls to 19%; yet to regain pre-pandemic ground