Philippine Unemployment Rate at Second Lowest since 2005 in December 2022

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on February 8th that the country’s unemployment rate was 4.3% in December 2022, the second lowest since April 2005 after the November 2022 unemployment rate of 4.2%.

Despite 43,000 jobs being lost in the labor market, increasing the number of unemployed Filipinos to 2.22 million, the year-on-year unemployment rate still declined from 6.6% in December 2021.

The labor force participation rate in December was 66.4%, a slight decrease from 67.5% the previous month, while the employment rate slipped to 95.7% from 95.8% in November 2022.

PSA Undersecretary Dennis Mapa stated that the slight changes in employment and unemployment rates were “statistically not significant” and emphasized the significant decrease in underemployment, which went down to 12.6% in December 2022, a decrease from 14.4% the previous month and 14.7% in the same month a year earlier.

The average weekly working hours in December 2022 improved to 40.3 hours, compared to 39.3 hours in November 2022 and 39.7 hours in December 2021.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan stated that the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 aims to provide Filipinos with high-quality jobs and ensure their skills align with in-demand requirements and can adapt to evolving job demands. Creating high-quality jobs in agriculture and ensuring food security remains a top priority for the administration.

Source: Philippine News Agency