Unemployment rate in the Philippines fell to 3.1 percent in December 2023, the lowest in nearly two decades, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Wednesday.
“The country’s labor market remains robust, with the lowest unemployment rate recorded in nearly two decades,” the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.
Data from the PSA showed that unemployment rate eased from 4.3 percent recorded in December 2022. This represents a year-on-year decrease of 617,000 unemployed individuals.
Underemployment rate also decreased to 11.9 percent in December 2023 from the 12.6 percent reported in December 2022. The decline corresponds to 186,000 fewer underemployed or employed persons who desire additional jobs and work hours.
“We welcome the news of a record-low unemployment rate, signifying the economy’s sustained momentum and resiliency of our labor market. Further, the Marcos administration is steadfast in its commitment to prioritize creating high-paying jobs to address the longstanding vulnerabilities in our country’s employment and lower the underemployment rate, an indicator of job quality,” said NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
“We will continue ramping up social and physical infrastructure investments and dramatically improve human capital to strengthen our people’s employment prospects,” said Balisacan.
He said the improvement in the labor market translated to the number of employed persons aged 15 years and above reaching 50.52 million in December 2023, higher than 49.00 million recorded in the same period last year.
The 96.9 percent employment rate in the country is now the highest recorded rate since April 2005.
Balisacan said given these promising labor market conditions, the favorable trends would likely continue as the government pushes for more investments by creating an enabling policy and regulatory environment and relentlessly addressing constraints in critical areas identified by the private sector.
These include the cost of energy and logistics, the ease of doing business, the competitiveness of the country’s labor force and the consistency of rules and regulations, he said.