The country’s unemployment and underemployment rates recorded improvements in February, according to a report released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The latest labor force survey (LFS) showed the country’s unemployment rate decreased to 3.5 percent in February from the 4.8 percent recorded in the same month last year.
In nominal terms, the number of unemployed persons for the month was estimated at 1.8 million.
This was lower than the 2.47 million and 2.15 million unemployed individuals in February 2023 and January 2024, respectively.
The LFS showed an improvement in the quality of employment, with a decline in the underemployment rate to 12.4 percent in February 2024 from 12.9 percent in the same month of 2023.
Specifically, 6.08 million of the 48.95 million employed individuals expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, to have additional job or to have a new job with longer hours of work in February 2024.
The employment rate thus increased to 96.5 percent, from 95.2 percent in the same month of the previous year and 95.5 percent in January 2024.
In terms of levels, the number of employed persons was registered at 48.95 million, higher than the recorded number of employed persons in February 2023 at 48.80 million and in January 2024 at 45.94 million
In a statement, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the government remains firm in prioritizing people-centered policies and attracting job-creating investments to support the continued improvement of thelabor market and enable Filipinos to earn higher wages from better jobs.
“The government remains resolute in creating an enabling policy and regulatory environment to attract employment-generating investments. We will also continue to implement measures to address bottlenecks and expedite processes to realize investment pledges, particularly in priority sectors holding much promise, such as renewable energy and critical minerals,” said NEDA secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
Balisacan said the Inter-Agency Investment Promotion Coordination Committee is currently coordinating the formulation of the medium- and long-term Foreign Investment Promotion and Marketing Plan.
“We also recognize that the fast-tracked implementation of the government’s infrastructure flagship projects, housing program and recovery of the tourism sector contributed to positive employment outcomes,” Balisacan. said.
The LFS showed that the labor force participation rate decreased to 64.8 percent in February 2024, from 66.6 percent last year, with young people (669,000) and women (404,000) withdrawing from the labor force.
“The needs of vulnerable groups, including women, youth, older people and those with disabilities remain our priority to encourage workforce participation. We will improve access to quality childcare, finance, and entrepreneurship opportunities to support women’s entry and retention in the labor market,” Balisacan said.
Balisacan added the government will revisit the existing policy governing alternative work modes, such as the Telecommuting Act, and adapt it to the evolving work landscape to address the growing preference for remote work.
“The government will explore enhancing the potential of part-time work to help promote lifelong learning. A framework for part-time work and similar set-ups can allow workers to retool or upskill without leaving the workforce,” he said.
Moreover, to facilitate the development of soft and hard skills among workers and create a more agile and adaptive workforce, the government continues to advocate for the passage of the Apprenticeship Bill, Lifelong Learning Bill and Enterprise Productivity Act.
