The Philippines has recorded its lowest unemployment rate since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country in early 2020, based on the recent report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The PSA said around 2.8 million individuals or 5.8% were unemployed in March 2022, down from the 3.13 million or 6.4% in February 2022 and from 3.44 million or 7.1% in March 2021.
Employment likewise improved to 94.2% with 46.98 million employed individuals in March from the 45.48 million data last February, while underemployment was registered at 15.8% equivalent to 7.42 million individuals, down from the 6.38 million the month it followed.
Listed as the top five major industries with the largest employment increase were the agriculture industry; administrative and support service; public administration, defense, social security; manufacturing; and financial and insurance activities.
In a statement on May 6, Acting Presidential Spokesperson Martin Andanar said the latest employment situation shows the impact of the government transition to Alert Level System in response to the impact of the pandemic.
“This proves how effective our calibrated strategy of shifting to Alert Level System to further reopen the economy – where more businesses are operating and more Filipinos are able to go to work – while ramping our COVID-19 vaccination drive,” he said.
“We are confident to see a further improvement in our employment situation as government has concrete plans to sustain our economic rebound,” he added.
As more Filipinos return to work, the National Economic and Development Authority said the resumption of face-to-face classes will further open the economy and allow more individuals to work. – Report from Naomi Tiburcio –ag
