Eases from 3.2% in Nov, flat from yr-earlier

Unemployment in the Philippines eased to 3.1 percent in December 2024 from 3.2 percent in November, but kept the rate from a year earlier, newly released official data showed.

The Philippine Statistics Authority said on Thursday. the number of unemployed individuals in December last year stood at 1.63 million, up slightly from 1.6 million jobless Filipinos in December 2023.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) highlighted the gains made by the labor market, citing a stable employment rate and improving job quality.

The PSA estimated the December employment rate at 96.9 percent, the same rate recorded a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the underemployment rate dropped to 10.9 percent from 11.9 in the comparative periods given, which the NEDA saw as an indication of an improvement in job quality.

“The government remains committed to advancing both supply- and demand-side measures that will foster a more dynamic labor environment and meet the targets set in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a statement.