By Alec Go
The Philippine unemployment rate slightly increased in December 2022 at 4.3% from 4.2% in November 2022, but is the second lowest since April 2005 according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
This means 2.22 million individuals in the labor force were jobless in December, up from November’s 2.18 million. The latest joblessness rate is a far dip from the 6.6% for the same month in 2021.
A 95.7% employment rate was also estimated for December 2022 or 49 million employed Filipinos which is down from 95.8% in November 2022, a difference that is “not really significant” according to National Statistician Dennis Mapa.
“Itong numbers natin yung 49.71 million versus 49 million sa ating statistical test, ito ay sa language ng mga statistician hindi significant kasi nasa range siya,” he said.
“Kasi kung titingnan natin ang ating employment rate ay nasa 95.7% nitong Disyembre 2022 at ito ay nasa 95.8% noong Disyembre 2021. So parang nasa within the band, while a point estimate mayroon siyang pagbaba, pero they are not really significantly different,” he added.
Underemployment rate significantly moved down to 12.6% from 14.4%, lower at 14.7% year-on-year.
“Hindi natin masasabi na pumunta sila (underemployed) sa unemployment. Ang klaro talaga, dumami ang trabaho na medyo tumaas ang quality, even the number of hours,” Mapa said.
The PSA said 51.22 million individuals or 66.4% were in the labor force in December, a drop from 67.5% in November but higher than 65.1% in December 2021.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) expressed optimism that the labor market continues to improve with the lower year-on-year unemployment rate as the economy reopens.
“The government remains committed to providing more, better and green job opportunities to Filipinos and sustaining a vibrant labor market through the strategies articulated in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
“Alongside providing high-quality jobs, we must ensure that their skills are not just aligned with current in-demand requirements but can also continuously keep up with the demands of evolving and emerging jobs,” he added. – gb
