January unemployment rose to 4.8% in January from 4.3% in December
The number of unemployed Filipinos increased to 2.37 million on January, the data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed on Thursday.
The data shows that the unemployment rate in January was estimated at 4.8 percent, translating to 2.37 million unemployed Filipinos was higher that the 4.3 percent or 2.22 million jobless Filipinos in December 2022.
However, the PSA noted that the unemployment rate recorded in January 2023 is lower than the unemployment rate reported in the same month in 2022 at 6.4 percent.
"The country’s employment rate was registered at 95.2 percent in January 2023, an increase from the 93.6 percent in January 2022. In terms of magnitude, employed persons increased by 4.09 million in January 2023 estimated at 47.35 million from 43.27 million in January 2022.
The number of employed persons in January 2023 was also higher than the reported 47.11 million employed persons in October 2022," the PSA stated.
"The labor force participation rate (LFPR) increased to 64.5 percent in January 2023, equivalent to 49.72 million Filipinos in the labor force. The reported LFPR in January 2023 was higher than the reported LFPR in January 2022 and in October 2022 at 60.5 percent and 64.2 percent, respectively," it added.
In a statement, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said "the latest employment indicators show the robust recovery and growth of our labor market from its slump in January 2022, when the surge in Omicron cases prompted stringent mobility and capacity restrictions."
“However, we note that employment created year-on-year were mostly part-time and classified as vulnerable. Thus, it is imperative that labor market policies and programs that directly contribute to labor productivity and employment generation must be prioritized, not only to preserve jobs but also to generate quality jobs,” he added.
Balisacan also stressed the implementation of the strategies on human capital development outlined in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028.
“High-quality jobs necessitate highly-skilled individuals. We will prioritize the upskilling and reskilling of the workforce to equip them with higher competencies by expanding lifelong learning opportunities,” Balisacan said.
“At the same time, we will ensure that employment opportunities are available and the information accessible,” he added.
The PSA data also shows that "the number of underemployed persons or the employed persons who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work was registered at 6.65 million, translating to an underemployment rate of 14.1 percent in January 2023" which is "lower than the reported rate in January 2022 (14.9 percent) and in October 2022 (14.2 percent)."
"The average weekly hours worked by an employed person in January 2023 was estimated at 39.5 hours, from 40.2 and 41.8 hours per week in October 2022 and January 2022, respectively," it stated.
"By broad industry group, services sector continued to account for the largest share of employed person with 60.7 percent of the total employed persons in January 2023. The agriculture sector and industry sectors accounted for 22.2 percent and 17.1 percent of the total employed persons, respectively," the PSA said.
It also noted that the "wage and salary workers contributed the largest share of employed persons with 62.3 percent in January 2023. This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.1 percent and unpaid family workers at 8.1 percent. Employer in own family-operated farm or business has the lowest share at 2.6 percent."
"Among wage and salary workers, employed persons in private establishments made up 48.5 percentage points, followed by employed in government and government-owned and controlled corporations at 9.2 percentage points," the data shows.
According to the PSA "six regions recorded LFPR higher than the national average of 64.5 percent in January 2023. These were Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (73.2 percent), Caraga (70.1 percent), Region XII (69.1 percent), Region X (68.6 percent), Region IX (65.2 percent), and Region VII (65.0 percent)".
''Five regions registered unemployment rates higher than the national rate of 4.8 percent in January 2023, namely: Region V (6.6 percent), Calabarzon (5.9 percent), National Capital Region (5.7 percent), Region VI (5.6 percent), and Caraga (5.0 percent)," it said.
Youth LFPR in January 2023 has increased to 34.8 percent from 32.0 percent reported in January 2022. The data shows that the "employment rate among youth increased by 3.0 percentage points from 86.2 percent in January 2022 to 89.2 percent in January 2023."
"Employed youth worked on the average of 33.7 hours per week in January 2023, a decline from the 39.1 hours worked per week in January 2022." Robina Asido/DMS
