WITH still a couple of weeks before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released data which does not look good for the administration.
According to the PSA, the number of unemployed Filipinos rose to 2.11 million – or an equivalent of 4.1 percent – in May, which is considered way higher than the 2.04 million reported in April.
However, the PSA said that the increase in the number of “unemployed” is not because many were fired or lost their jobs via resignation or closure of the business where they’re employed – but because more Filipinos have joined the labor market.
Preliminary results of the PSA’s May round of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) showed the unemployment rate moved at its highest pace in four months compared to the 4 percent in the previous month but still lower than 4.3 percent in May 2023.
Meanwhile, the underemployment rate – the share of those already working but still looking for more work or longer working hours to total employed population – increased to 9.9 percent in May from 14.6 percent in the preceding month.
The PSA added that 4.82 million Filipinos are looking for an additional job or longer working hours.
The labor force participation rate (LFPR) – the proportion of the total labor in the working-age population of 15 years old and over – went up to 64.8 percent from 64.1 percent in the previous month.
May’s employment rate fell to 95.9 percent, lower than the 96 percent logged in April. In terms of level, there were 48.87 million employed Filipinos in May, higher than 48.36 million in the previous months.
Interestingly, the employment rate was also the lowest in four months or since the 95.5 percent in January.
