In July 2023, the country’s unemployment rate decreased to 4.8 percent from 5.2 percent in the same month last year. Unemployment rate was posted at 4.5 percent in April 2023.
In terms of level, the number of unemployed in July 2023 was estimated at 2.27 million, posting a decline of 329 thousand from the 2.60 million reported in July 2022.
Employment rate in July 2023 was registered at 95.2 percent. This was higher than the reported rate in July 2022 at 94.8 percent, but lower than the estimate in April 2023 at 95.5 percent.
The country’s Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in July 2023 decreased to 60.1 percent from 65.2 percent in July 2022 and 65.1 percent in April 2023. This LFPR translates to 46.90 million who were either employed or unemployed.
The number of underemployed persons or employed persons who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional, or to have a new job with longer hours of work was registered at 7.10 million translating to an underemployment rate of 15.9 percent.
On average, employed persons worked 42.3 hours per week, which was higher than the average hours worked in a week in July 2022 at 40.5 hours and in April 2023 at 36.9 hours.
By broad industry group, the services sector consistently dominated the employment hub accounting for 59.4 percent of the total employed persons in July 2023. The agriculture and the industry sectors accounted for 21.5 percent and 19.0 percent, respectively.
Employment rate in July 2023 estimated at 95.2 percent
The year-on-year changes in the number of employed persons in July 2023 showed the following top five sub-sectors with their annual increments:
a. Transportation and storage (337 thousand);
b. Administrative and support service activities (243 thousand);
c. Professional, scientific and technical activities (162 thousand);
d. Information and communication (117 thousand); and
e. Manufacturing (75 thousand).
On the other hand, the following were the top five subsectors that posted the highest decline in the number of employed persons from July 2022 to July 2023:
a. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (-1.97 million);
b. Agriculture and Forestry (-1.58 million);
c. Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (-271 thousand);
d. Arts, entertainment and recreation (-44 thousand); and
e. Real estate activities (-32 thousand).
Unemployment rate at the regional level showed that seven of the 17 regions posted an unemployment rate higher than the national rate of 4.8 percent in July 2023. These were Region V or Bicol Region (6.2%), Region IV-A or CALABARZON (5.9%), Region VII or Central Visayas (5.5%), Region X or Northern Mindanao (5.4%), Region VIII or Eastern Visayas (5.1%), Region XIII or Caraga (5.1%) and National Capital Region (4.9%).
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