The unemployment rate in the country dropped to 3.1 percent or an estimated 1.60 million jobless Filipinos in December 2023, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority's (PSA) Labor Force Survey result released on Wednesday, February 7.
The December 2023 data declined from the 3.6 percent or 1.83 million recorded in November 2023.
The underemployment, meanwhile, stood at 11.9 percent or equivalent to 6.01 million employed Filipinos who want to have additional working hours, extra work, or jobs with longer hours.
JUST IN: Bilang ng mga Pilipinong walang trabaho bumaba sa 3.1% o 1.6 milyon, ayon sa Philippine Statistics Authority | DZRH News pic.twitter.com/O6dTNdeb9r
— DZRH NEWS (@dzrhnews) February 7, 2024
On the other hand, the number of employed Filipinos rose to 96.9 percent or 50.52 million.
As per PSA, the labor market in December 2023 was dominated by the services sector with 28.96 million Filipinos employed, followed by the industry sector with 9.25 million, and the agriculture sector with 12.32 million.
It said that the top five sub-sectors with the highest annual increase in employment were construction (777,000), agriculture and forestry (715,000), accommodation and food service activities (498,000), transportation and storage (174,000) and human health and social work activities (140,000).
Contrarily, the top five sub-sectors with the highest annual decrease in employment were wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (-660,000), administrative and support service activities (-250,000), fishing and aquaculture (-159,000), financial and insurance activities (-132,000), and arts and entertainment (-16,000).
Overall, the labor force participation rate posted at 66.6 percent in December 2023.
A total of 11,164 households or 31,428 individuals across the country participated in PSA's December 2023 Labor Force Survey.
