Jobless Pinoys down to 7.9M in September 2023 - survey

The number of unemployed Filipinos fell to 7.9 million in the third quarter of 2023, according to the latest survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The latest joblessness rate of 16.9% is a drop from 22.8% or 10.3M in June, and 18.6% in the same quarter last year. It is also the lowest since the 15.7% recorded in December 2017.

The SWS qualified jobless adults as those who voluntarily left their jobs, those seeking jobs for the first time, or those who lost their jobs due to economic circumstances beyond their control.

The latest poll indicated a 63.3% labor force participation rate, equivalent to 46.5 million people, higher than the 61.6% or 45.3 million recorded in the previous quarter.

Broken down geographically:

• Luzon at 20.8% (down from 29.8% in June)
• Metro Manila at 19.2% (down from 24.3%)
• Mindanao at 12.4% (down from 15.5%)
• Visayas at 12.2% (down from 15.6%).

Unemployment was the highest among those aged 18 to 24 at 34.4%, followed by those aged 25 to 34 at 22.7%, those aged 35 to 44 at 16.5%, and those aged 45 and above at 11.9%.

It was also the highest among college graduates at 25.6%, with junior high school graduates behind at 19.1%, elementary graduates at 14.5%, and non-elementary graduates at 3.1%.

Latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that there were 2.09 million jobless Filipinos in October, translating to an unemployment rate of 4.2%.

According to the SWS, there has been an “understandably large” discrepancy between its joblessness rate and the unemployment rate of the PSA, given the difference in definitions of employment.

The latest SWS survey was conducted from September 28 to October 1, 2023, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults — 300 each in Metro Manila, balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

—RF, GMA Integrated News