The country’s unemployment rate increased to a four-month high of 4.8 percent in January 2023 from 4.3 percent a month ago, due mainly to slower economic activities usually observed after the Christmas season.
But national statistician and civil registrar general Dennis Mapa said in an online briefing that the January rate was significantly slower compared to the 6.4 percent unemployment rate posted in January 2022.
“Previously, we talked about the decline in jobless rate in the last quarter of 2022 due to more economic activities [leading to the Christmas season]. Likewise, we expected that there would be an increase in the unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2023 due to seasonality,” Mapa said.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva exuded optimism that the measures passed and deliberated by the Senate will resolve the spike in unemployment rate last January.
Villanueva said he is saddened by the rise in the number of jobless Filipinos in the latest data issued January this year.
Among the measures he hopes would address unemployment is the Senate approval of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) treaty bill. If enacted into law, RCEP is expected to generate a total of 1.4 million jobs up to 2031.
Mapa said the construction sector posted the biggest decline in employment, followed by aquaculture, agriculture and mining and quarrying.
“But indicators show that the unemployment rate has been returning to the prepandemic level… it actually started since the second half of 2022…,” Mapa said.
In 2019 before the onslaught of the pandemic, the unemployment rate stood at 5.1 percent and significantly increased to 10.3 percent in 2020. But in July 2022, the unemployment rate stood at 5.2 percent, 5.3 percent in August 2022, 5 percent in September 2022, 4.5 percent in October 2022, 4.2 percent in November 2022, and 4.3 percent in December 2022.
Mapa said the 4.8 percent unemployment rate in January 2023 translated to 2.37 million unemployed Filipinos.
NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the latest employment data show the robust recovery and growth of the 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,” Balisacan said.
He said 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.
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 January2022.
The number of employed persons in January 2023 was also higher than the reported 47.11 million employed persons in October 2022.
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 64.2percent, respectively.
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. This was lower than the reported rate in January 2022 (14.9 percent) and in October2022 (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.
By broad industry group, the services sector continued to account for the largest share of employed persons 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 top five sectors with the highest year-on-year increase in the number of employed person in January 2023 are wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.53 million);agriculture and forestry (960,000); accommodation and food service activities (549,000); transportation and storage (303,000); and other service activities (203,000).
In contrast, the three sectors that exhibited a drop in the number of employed persons from January 2022 to January 2023 were construction(-334,000); water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (-34,000); and professional, scientific and technical activities (-19,000).
Six regions recorded LFRP higher than the national average of 64.5percent in January 2023. These were the 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).
By region, five regions registered unemployment rates higher than the national rate of 4.8 percent in January 2023, namely: Region V (6.6percent), CALABARZON (5.9 percent), National Capital Region (5.7percent), Region VI (5.6 percent), and Caraga (5.0 percent).
Government data show the country’s unemployment rate averaged 8.59 percent from 1986 until 2022, reaching an all-time high of 17.60percent in June of 2020 at the height of the strict lockdowns during the pandemic.