The state statistics bureau said on Friday that the jobless rate in the Philippines fell to 4.3 percent in May, the second-lowest level seen since April 2005.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, this was lower than the 4.5 percent jobless rate in April and the 6 percent rate registered in May of last year.
2.17 million Filipinos were unemployed in May, which was fewer than the 2.26 million unemployed people in April and the 2.93 million unemployed people in May 2022.
Additionally, the underemployment rate decreased from 12.9 percent in April to 11.7 percent in May.
“The underemployment rate in May 2023 was the second lowest since April 2005 with March 2023 underemployment rate of 11.2 percent as the lowest,” the PSA said.
The underemployed are defined by the PSA as workers who already have a job but are still looking for more work hours or other employment.
“Wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons with 60.5 percent of the total employed persons in May 2023,” the PSA said.
The percentage of self-employed people was 28.1 percent, and the percentage of unpaid family workers was 9.2 percent.
Employees in private businesses made up 46.5 percent of all employed people, followed by 8.8 percent of workers in government or government-controlled businesses.
Recently, wages in the National Capital Region were increased by P40 per day, which several labor organizations criticized as being insufficient. Business organizations have since issued warnings about the potential effects on the economy and small enterprises.
The GDP of the nation expanded by 6.4% in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, inflation eased for a fifth consecutive month, settling at 5.4% in June.
