Unemployment rate eased further in March, underscoring a steady recovery of the economy from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a net 1.61 million jobs created over the 12-month period, mostly by the services and industrial sectors.
The Philippine Statistics Authority said Monday that the employment rate in March was estimated at 95.3 percent, up from the 94.2 percent recorded the year-earlier period and the 95.2 percent posted in February.
With the labor estimated at 51 million, the PSA said the unemployment rate translates to 48.58 million employed Filipinos in March, an increase from the 46.98 million employed in March 2022.
The jobless rate in March dropped to 4.7 percent from 5.8 percent in March last year and 4.8 percent in February. This translates to 2.42 million persons.
Meantime, the ranks of the underemployed—those already with jobs but looking for more work— declined to 11.2 percent in March from 15.8 percent in the same month last year and 12.9 percent in February. This suggest that 5.4 million Filipinos are still looking for better paying jobs.
The top five subsectors of the economy that showed created the most jobs in March compared to last year are transportation and storage at 533,000; accommodation and food service activities at 477,000; wholesale and retail trade as well as repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles at 407,000; construction at 384,000; and other service activities at 344,000.
Meantime, job losses were more pronounced in, among others, agriculture and forestry, financial and insurance activities, and manufacturing.
