MANILA, Philippines, October 12 ------ The country’s unemployment rate dropped to four percent in August as more women joined the labor force, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). National Statistician Dennis Mapa said in a press briefing yesterday that the preliminary results of the PSA’s Labor Force Survey showed the jobless rate in August fell from 4.7 percent in July 2024 and 4.4 percent in August 2023.
This translates to 2.07 million unemployed Filipinos in August, down from the previous month’s 2.38 million and 2.22 million in August last year. The country’s employment rate improved to 96 percent in August from 95.3 percent in July and 95.6 percent in August 2023. There were 49.15 million employed Filipinos in August, higher than the previous month’s 47.7 million and 48.07 million in August 2023.
Mapa attributed the decline in unemployment and higher employment to the participation of more female workers in the labor force. “One major factor we saw this August 2024 is that many women participated in the labor force and many of them were absorbed in the labor market,” Mapa said.
The labor force participation rate of women was at 54.7 percent in August, up from 52.4 percent in July and 52.9 percent in August 2023. The PSA data also showed the country’s underemployment rate dipped to 11.2 percent in August from 12.1 percent in July and 11.7 percent in August last year. There were 5.48 million underemployed Filipinos or those who sought additional hours of work or an additional job in August. This was lower than the 5.78 million in the previous month and 5.63 million in August last year.
Source: philstar.com
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