PH’s unemployment rate stays at 7.7% in June

A car manufacturing unit. INQUIRER stock photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ unemployment rate was still at 7.7 percent in June, accounting for 3.76 million jobless Filipinos, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Based on the results of the June 2021 Labor Force Survey released on Tuesday, the PSA said “the country’s unemployment rate in June 2021 remained the same as the 7.7 percent reported a month ago.”

“In terms of magnitude, 3.76 million Filipinos 15 years old and over were unemployed in June 2021, compared to 3.73 million in May 2021,” PSA said.

The unemployment rate in June was lower than the unemployment rates in April at 8.7 percent, February at 8.8 percent, and January at 8.7 percent. It was, however, higher than the 7.1 percent recorded in March.

PSA said the employment rate in June remained unchanged at 92.3 percent from May amid the surge of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

“This means that 45.08 million were employed out of 48.84 million Filipinos in the labor force in June 2021,” it added.

The employment rate in June is higher than the rates reported in April 2021 at 91.3 percent, February 2021 at 91.2 percent, and January at 91.3 percent, but lower by -0.6 percentage point from the March estimate, the PSA noted.

Employed persons reported with job but not at work was, meanwhile, down to 1.2 percent in June from the 1.4 percent in May.

According to PSA, the top sub-sectors with the largest drop in employment from May to June are other service activities; accommodation and food service activities; public administration and defense, compulsory social security; transportation and storage, and; financial and insurance activities.

Highest increases in employment were recorded in the administrative and support service activities; wholesale and retail trade and repaid of motor vehicles and motorcycles; fishing and aquaculture; education, and; agriculture and forestry.

PSA said the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in June was at 65 percent or about 48.84 million Filipinos 15 years and above who were either employed or unemployed. This is higher than the LFPR at 64.6 percent in May, 63.2 percent in April, 63.5 percent in February, and 60.5 percent in January.

Underemployment rate also went up to 14.2 percent in June from the estimated 12.3 percent in the previous month, according to the agency.

“This is translated to an increase of 918 thousand underemployed persons, from 5.49 million in May to 6.41 million in June 2021,” it noted.

LFPR in June 2021 was higher for men at 76.3 percent than for women at 53.7 percent. PSA said the employment rate was likewise higher among men at 93.2 percent than among women at 91 percent. Underemployment rate among men at 15.5 percent was still higher than among women at 12.4 percent.

EDV