Services and industry generated nearly 2 million additional jobs in the past 12 months, compensating for the job losses in agriculture due to the challenges posed by El Nino and helping push unemployment rate down to 3.9 percent in March from 4.7 percent in the year-earlier period.
Data released Wednesday by the Philippine Statistics Authority estimated total employed persons at 49.15 million in March compared with 48.58 million in the same month in 2023. The estimated number of employed total 48.95 million in February and 45.93 million in January.
With the number of job seekers and those already employed estimated at 51.15 million, around 2 million Filipinos are estimated to be without jobs in March.
The number of jobless Filipinos was estimated at 2.42 million in March last year, when labor force participation total 51 million. In February, 50.75 million had and sought jobs but 1.8 million didn’t find employment.
Data show the services sector provided 30.2 million jobs in March, up from 28.7 million in the year-earlier period and 29.7 million posted in February, taking the slack from agriculture which provided in March employment for 10.1 million Filipinos compared to 11.4 million in the same month of 2023 and 10.4 million in February.
Industry accounted for 8.9 million jobs in March, up from 8.6 million in March last year but flat from February.
Underemployment rote, or the number of workers seeking higher-paying jobs, in March stood at 11 percent, equivalent to 5.39 million workers, down from 11.2 percent in March last year and 12.4 percent in February.
