Unemployment down by 5.2% in July

September 10 ------ THE number of unemployed Filipinos eased to 2.6 million in July this year from 2.76 million in April, data from Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed.

According to the latest Labor Force Survey, the unemployment rate in the Philippines decreased to 5.2 percent in July from 6.0 percent in June and 7.2 percent in the same month in 2021. The PSA said that 47.39 million Filipinos were employed in July 2022, up from 46.59 million in June and 41.67 million in July 2021. This translates to an employment rate of 94.8 percent, up from July 2021's 92.8 percent and the previous month's 94.0 percent. PSA said wholesale and retail trade, agriculture and forestry, lodging and food services, and other service activities saw the biggest gains in employment. Estimates for the month's average weekly hours were 40.5, up from the 40.3 hours in June.

"The July numbers are very promising," National Statistician Dennis Mapa said in a briefing. He added that the unemployment rate is the lowest since October 2019 before the pandemic. Around 49.99 million Filipinos 15 years and older had jobs or were looking for jobs last July. This is higher than the number recorded in April 2022 at 48.39 million and much higher than in July last year at 44.90 million. On the other hand, the 6.54 million underemployed in July were more than the estimated 5.89 million underemployed 78 In addition, the underemployment rate increased from 12.6 percent in June to 13.8 percent in July. Additionally, the employment rate increased to 94.8 percent (47.39 million people) during that period. PSA said that the data represents an increase of 5.72 million in July 2021 and 1.76 million in April 2022.

Source: manilatimes.net