Unemployment rate falls in October

MANILA, Philippines — The proportion of unemployed Filipinos fell in October while those wanting more work slightly decreased, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported Thursday.

The country’s jobless rate stood at 4.5% in October, lower than 5.1% recorded in the same month last year. The PSA also said that an estimated 0.9 million young Filipinos (15-24 years old) were unemployed out of the 7.3 million youth labor force population.

Employment rate in October was estimated at 95.5%, higher than 94.9% recorded a year ago. Broken down, workers in the services sector accounted for 57.7% of the employed population, followed by agriculture (23.5%) and industry (18.9%).

Meanwhile, the proportion of underemployed persons — or those employed but looking for longer working hours or additional jobs to increase their income — was at 13%, a tad lower than 13.3% registered last year.

“By comparison, the underemployed persons who worked for 40 hours or more in a week in October 2019 made up 38.0%,” the PSA said.

“By sector, 44.9% of the underemployed worked in the services sector, while 37.8% were in the agriculture sector.  Those in the industry sector accounted for 17.3%,” it added. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral