Ranks of employed Filipinos swell in Aug but quality of jobs not ideal

The Philippine labor market in August showed significant improvement from July, with the resumption of farm activity and the start of the new school year helping generate more employment for Filipinos, the statistics authority said Friday.

The Philippine Statistics Authority said the unemployment rate in August declined to 4.4 percent from 4.8 percent in July, with the number of employed Filipinos surging to 48.1 million from 44.6 million, respectively. The number of jobless Filipinos was estimated at a preliminary 2.21 million in August from 2.27 million in July and 2.68 million in August last year, data showed.

An estimated 47.9 million Filipinos were counted as employed in August last year.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa told a news conference that the additional 3.44 million employment in August were accounted mainly by the surge in the number of self-employed and unpaid family workers, many of these jobs created by agriculture and retail trade. He said the resumption of planting activity in farms and the start of a new school year has created jobs under the unpaid family workers category, which rose to 3.84 million in August from 2 million in July.

“Unfortunately, the increase in employment didn’t come from those (earning) wages and  salaries. The wage and salaried workers segment only increased slightly by 87,000. The larger increase came from the ranks of self-employed and unpaid family workers….In terms of class of workers, the quality of jobs is not ideal,” he said.  

The number of underemployed declined in August to 5.63 million from 7.1 million in July and 7.03 million in August 2022.

The PSA said the August numbers translate to an underemployment rate of 11.7 percent, down from 15.9 percent in July and 14.7 percent in the year-earlier period. Underemployed persons are those who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work.

Given the seasonality of the work generated in August, it shouldn’t be a surprise if the ranks of employed Filipinos suddenly drop in the September survey.