The Philippine’s unemployment rate in July 2023 rose to 4.8 percent, which translates to 2.27 million Filipinos without jobs, according to preliminary results of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Labor Force Survey released on Friday, Sept. 8.
PSA said the July 2023 unemployment rate was higher than the 4.5 percent recorded in June 2023, but lower than the 5.2 percent posted in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the underemployment rate, or the number of employed persons who wished to work for extra hours or engage in more jobs, also increased as it registered at 15.0 percent or 7.10 million underemployed Filipinos.
The underemployment figure in July 2023 climbed from 12.9 percent or 6.20 million Filipinos in April 2023.
On the other hand, the number of individuals who are employed in July 2023 stood at 2.27 million.
The statistics authority said it saw an uptick in the number of employment in the following five top sub-sectors from July 2022 to July 2023:
- Transportation and storage (337,000)
- Administrative and support service activities (243,000)
- Professional, scientific, and technical activities (162,000)
- Information and communication (117,000)
- Manufacturing (75,000)
Contrarily, PSA also saw a downtick in the number of employment in the following top sub-sectors:
- Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (-1.97 million)
- Agriculture and Forestry (-1.58 million)
- Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (-271 thousand)
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation (-44,000)
- Real estate activities (-32,000)
Overall, the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in July 2023 slightly went down to 60.1 percent or 46.90 million Filipinos who were either employed or unemployed.
In terms of region, Caraga had the highest LFPR with 64.6 percent, while Bicol region had the lowest LFPR with 57.2 percent.
In terms of gender, the LFPR among males is high at 72.4 percent, while females is at 47.8 percent.
