The country’s unemployment rate remained steady at 4.8 percent in February, although it has shown improvement versus the year ago level.
According to the latest labor force survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the country’s jobless rate in February 2023 has remained the same as that of the previous month.
It is, however, lower than the unemployment rate recorded in February 2022, then at 6.4 percent.
In nominal terms, the number of unemployed persons was 2.47 million out of 51.27 million Filipinos who were in the labor force in February 2023.
The country’s employment rate in February 2023 also remained at its previous month’s rate of 95.2 percent. In February 2022, employment rate was lower at 93.6 percent.
The number of employed increased to 48.8 million in February 2023, 3.32 million higher than the 45.48 million employed persons reported in February of the previous year.
“The most recent data on the country’s workforce suggests that the Philippine labor market is steadily recovering. The lifting of various restrictions that previously impeded employment opportunities has resulted in an increase in job prospects for Filipino workers,” National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said in a statement yesterday.
Balisacan said the unemployment rate among the youth, defined as individuals aged 15 to 24, decreased significantly from 14.2 percent in February 2022 to 9.1 percent this year.
The country’s labor force participation rate rose to 66.6 percent in February 2023, up from 63.8 percent during the same period in the previous year. This translates to an increase of 2.7 million Filipinos joining the labor force on a year-on-year basis.
Despite the improved performance of the labor market, challenges to improving the quality of employment across sectors still remain, NEDA said.
Baliscan said the government should persist in enabling the creation of high-quality jobs on the demand side and ensuring the upskilling and retooling of workers on the supply side.
“On the demand side, the strategy to create high-quality job opportunities begins with attracting more investments especially in infrastructure and in improving the regulatory environment. These interventions will improve the competitiveness of the entire economy and result in greater investor interest in other industries. Our participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the amendments to the Public Service Act pave the way for more high-paying job opportunities being made available to Filipinos,” Balisacan said.
“NEDA has recently published the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the amended Public Service Act. The next step is for the regulatory agencies to revise their regulatory processes accordingly,” he added.
Additionally, he said the government will boost efforts to raise awareness among the workforce regarding the current opportunities for skill enhancement.
“On the supply side, there is a need to improve the dissemination of information and awareness campaigns to encourage workers to utilize the existing resources for upskilling and retooling,” Balisacan said.
