THE country’s unemployment rate has remained at 7.7 percent in June, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021 said.

This translates to 3.76 million jobless Filipinos.

The labor force participation rate, however, increased from 64.6 percent in May to 65 percent in June. Together, these led to a net job creation of 0.4 million between May and June 2021.

Since January 2020, net job creation has totaled 2.5 million, indicating that the economy has exceeded the pre-pandemic employment level after losing 8.7 million jobs during the height of the quarantines in April 2020.

By broad industry group, the services sector still accounted for the largest share (57.6 percent) of employed persons in June 2021. The agriculture and the industry sectors contributed 24.3 percent and 18.1 percent, respectively, to the 45.08 million total employed persons.

“The labor force survey results for June 2021 showed the limits of job creation without major relaxations in quarantine restrictions, especially in the National Capital Region. With the emergence of the Covid-19 Delta variant, the government has prioritized arresting the spread of this more contagious virus through more proactive quarantines in high-risk areas and an accelerated vaccination program,” said the joint statement of the Duterte Administration’s economic managers.

The team anticipates that the enhanced community quarantine imposition may temporarily impact employment outcomes in August 2021 but it noted that the government is determined to maximize this period to accelerate vaccination in high-risk areas in order to safely resume economic activities and restore jobs. (KOC)