For the first time since the pandemic in April last year, the unemployment rate here has dropped to 6.9% in July, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) July 2021 Labor Force Survey (LFS).
There were 3.1 million unemployed persons 15 years old and over in July 2021, down from 4.6 million reported in July 2020.
The Philippines’ employment rate saw the highest increase in July 2021 since the pandemic in April 2020. It rose to 93.1% in July 2021 from 82.4% last April 2020.
However, the underemployed persons were estimated at 8.7 million in July 2021, PSA said. This is equivalent to some 8.7 million underemployed Filipinos.
“Mayroong 7% na ang rason nila ay dahil sa COVID-19 pandemic at mayroong nagsabi na mahirap maghanap ng trabaho kaya hindi na sila nag-participate,” National Statistician Undersecretary Dennis Mapa said in a virtual conference on Tuesday (Sept. 7). – Report from Naomi Tiburcio / CF – rir
