MANILA — The Philippines’ unemployment rate edged down in September to 3.8 percent from 3.9 percent in August, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Thursday.
This meant that 1.96 million workers were jobless during the month, compared to the 2.03 million clip seen in the previous month.
The underemployment rate, meanwhile, climbed to 11.1 percent in September from 10.7 percent in August. This meant that 5.52 million workers were unemployed in September, up from 5.38 million in August.
The PSA defines underemployment as workers who already have a job, but are still looking for an extra job or extra work hours.
CONSTRUCTION GENERATES, LOSES JOBS
Construction was the top generator of jobs with 514,000 workers added since last year. It was followed by Fishing and aquaculture with 313,000 new jobs added; and Accommodation and food service activities with 307,000 jobs.
Manufacturing meanwhile lost 302,000 jobs since September last year. Industries that fell under other service activities, meanwhile, lost 493,000 jobs; and administrative and support service activities lost 356,000.
On a monthly basis, the sectors that added the most jobs in September from August were Education (223,000); Agriculture and forestry (129,000); Human health and social work activities (117,000); Mining and quarrying (113,000); and Accommodation and food service activities (85,000).
Construction, however, also saw the second largest number of jobs lost on a monthly basis, with 308,000 jobs shed in September from August. National statistician Claire Dennis Mapa also said there was a month-on-month increase of under employment in the construction space by 235,000.
“Posible na may mga workers, or a portion of the workers, hindi nagkaroon ng 40 hours job. Some of them are hired, let’s say as a temporary hand or partial lang yung kanilang work done in that particular week,” he explained.
Other subsectors with the largest drop in the number of employed persons from August to September were other service activities 498,000; Transportation and storage (247,000); Financial and insurance activities (105,000); and Administrative and support service activities (68,000).
The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) said the numbers show that the economy largely remained resilient in September.
“Our employment indicators continue to reflect the economy’s capacity to generate stable and meaningful jobs for millions of Filipinos, even amid uncertainties and headwinds,” DEPDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
Balisacan said the government will continue to push for higher-paying and more productive jobs by attracting quality investments, developing a skilled and competitive workforce, and modernizing our industries.
