THE country’s employment rate has increased to 96.9 percent in June 2024, bringing down the number of jobless Filipinos to at least three in every 100 individuals, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Wednesday, August 7, 2024.
In May 2024, at least four out of every 100 individuals who were members of the workforce were unemployed.
As of June 2024, the PSA said of the 51.90 million Filipinos aged 15 and over who were in the labor force, 50.28 million were employed while 1.62 million were jobless.
The agency noted that the labor force participation rate, or the number of individuals who are either employed or unemployed, was recorded at 66 percent, higher than the 64.8 percent in May 2024.
The average weekly hours of an employed individual in June 2024 stood at 40.9 hours per week from 40.6 hours per week during the month prior.
The number of underemployed individuals, or those employed but seeking additional work hours in their current job, another job, or a new job with longer hours, increased to 12.0 percent, or about 6.08 million, from only 9.9 percent of employed individuals in May 2024.
The services sector continued as the top sector in terms of the number of employed persons with a share of 58.7 percent of the total number of employed persons in June 2024, while the agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 21.1 percent and 20.2 percent, respectively.
Construction; wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; accommodation and food service activities; manufacturing; and transportation storage also recorded an annual increase in the number of employed persons while the agriculture and forestry; public administration and defense; compulsory social security; fishing and aquaculture; education; and financial and insurance activities recorded the highest annual decreases. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)