Job seekers attend a job fair in the Ilocos region on June 12, 2022 on the celebration of Philippine Independence Day. (Photo courtesy of Department of Labor and Employment in Ilocos)
MANILA, Philippines — An estimated total of 9.6 million adult Filipinos were jobless as of December 2022, showing an increase of 800,000, or 0.09%, from the October 2022 figure of 8.8 million.
The 9.6 million jobless translates to 21.3% of the adult labor force — defined by the SWS as those aged 18 years and above who either have a job or are looking for one.
This was among the findings of a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) from Dec. 10 to 14, 2022, using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults, with 300 each from Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The SWS released the results on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Labor Force Participation Rate — the portion of adults within the labor force who have a job — is 45.2 million, or 62.6% of the labor force.
The National Capital Region has a joblessness rate of 24.8%, Balance Luzon 23.1%, Visayas 18.6%, and Mindanao 18.1%.
Hunger among the jobless
According to the SWS, there was a higher incidence of hunger among the jobless.
“Involuntary hunger was 23.6% (consisting of 17.9 moderate hunger and 5.7 severe hunger) among families of the jobless, compared to 8.7% (consisting of 6.7 moderate hunger and 2.0 severe hunger) among families of respondents with a job/livelihood,” the SWS said.
Joblessness was also higher among women at 29.7%, compared to men at 15.2%.
When it comes to age, the youngest age group, 18 to 24 years old, had the highest joblessness at 46.7%. College graduates were also the most jobless at 22.9%.