AROUND four million Filipinos were unemployed in January 2021 compared to 2.4 million in January 2020, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Tuesday, March 9, 2021.
This figure translates to an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent. In October 2020, the country recorded 3.8 million unemployed Filipinos.
Employment rate in January 2021, on the other hand, stood at 91.3 percent. This means that 41.2 million Filipinos were employed out of 45.2 million Filipinos in the labor force in January 2021. This estimated rate is lower than the reported 94.7 percent in January 2020.
By region, unemployment rates in seven areas of the country were reportedly higher than the national estimate of 8.7 percent in January 2021.
Two of these regions, Calabarzon and Bicol Region, reported double-digit unemployment rates of 13.1 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively.
By industry group, the services sector remained dominant with 57.2 percent share to the total employed persons, followed by the agriculture sector with 24.4 percent share, and the industry sector with 18.4 percent which accounted for the smallest share.