Metro Manila, Philippines — The number of jobless Filipinos shrank to 1.62 million in June, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
The latest tally has put the unemployment rate at 3.1% in June, easing from May’s 4.1% when those without work were estimated at a larger 2.11 million, according to the PSA.
National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the June unemployment rate was one of the lowest since 2005.
He said the rise in construction-related jobs was a major job creator.
“Nagkaroon tayo ng dagdag na [We had an additional] 938,00 construction of buildings in particular…Dito ang pinakamarami na dagdag sa trabaho [This provided the most jobs] year-on-year,” Mapa said.
The PSA said public administration and defense, education, and transportation industries recorded the largest drop in employment last month.
Meanwhile, the employment rate was 96.9% or 50.28 million people with jobs. The labor participation force – or the proportion of the population ages 15 and older that is economically active, according to the International Labor Organization – is also up from 64.8% to 66%.
On the other hand, the underemployment rate returned to the double digits – now at 12.1% versus May’s 9.9%.
This translates to 6.08 million Filipinos seeking more work to make ends meet, higher than 4.82 million people in May.
“Hindi lahat ay nagkaroon ng full-time jobs…kaya nagkaroon din ng increase doon sa number of individuals na underemployed,” Mapa explained.
[Translation: Not all get full time jobs…that’s why there’s an increase on the number of underemployed individuals]
NewsWatch Plus Correspondent Lance Mejico contributed to this report
