Jobless Pinoys increase to 3.13M

More Filipinos have been rendered jobless during the coronavirus pandemic.

MANILA, Philippines — The number of jobless in the country rose to 3.13 million as more and more Filipinos joined the labor force and started to look for employment, according to the latest labor force survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the labor force, or those employed or unemployed active in the job market aged 15 and older, rose to 48.61 million from 45.94 million in January.

Mapa said the unemployment rate stayed at 6.4 percent because of the natural growth of the labor force.

But Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua saw an improving quantity and quality of jobs despite the increase in the number of unemployed. —BEN O. DE VERA

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