By Myris Lee
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country’s employment rate improved in April 2022 compared with the same month last year amid eased restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on the PSA report, the employment rate in April 2022 was estimated at 94.3% translating to a total of 45.63 million employed Filipinos, higher than 91.3% recorded in April 2021.
The country’s unemployment rate in April 2022 dropped to 5.7% or an equivalent of 2.76 million compared to the logged 8.7% in April 2021.
The top five sub-sectors with the highest increase of employment are administration and support service activities (+349,000), accommodation and food service activities (+343,000), transportation and storage (+289,000), agriculture and forestry (+251,000), and construction (+249,000).
Three sub-sectors showed a significant drop in the number of employed persons from April 2021 to April 2022 namely fishing and aquaculture (-59,000); education (-55,000); and wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (-24,000).
Zamboanga Peninsula posted the highest employment rate at 97.1% while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao recorded the lowest employment rate at 91.9%. – ag
