(Eagle News)–The country’s employment rate in January 2024 was pegged at 95.5 percent.
The Philippine Statistics Authority said this translates to 45.94 million employed persons, lower than the number of employed individuals in the same month last year, pegged at 47.35 million.
January 2024’s employment rate was also higher than the employment rate posted in the same month last year–at 95.2 percent—but lower than the employment rate reported in October 2023, at 95.8 percent, the PSA said.
The PSA said the unemployment rate in January 2024, meanwhile, dropped to 4.5 percent from 4.8 percent of the previous year, which translates to 2.15 million unemployed individuals.
More than half of the total employment in January 2024 was provided by services (60.2 percent), followed by agriculture (21.4 percent) and industry (18.4 percent), according to the PSA.
The top sub-sectors that recorded annual increases in the number of employed persons in January 2024, meanwhile, were construction; transportation and storage; administrative and support service activities; and fishing and aquaculture.
The government welcomed the country’s overall employment rate in January 2024, noting that this was an increase from the rate recorded in the same month last year.
In a statement, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto added that the quality of jobs in the Philippines has improved, and this is reflected in the decline of the underemployment rate, from 14.1 percent in January last year to 13.9 in January this year.
“Wage and salary workers enjoy more stable employment conditions, including perks such as health insurance and social welfare benefits. The fact that they are continuously increasing and accounting for the largest share of employed persons in the country indicates that the majority of our workforce is engaged in formal jobs,” he said.