Unemployed Pinoys down further to 1.83M in November 2023

The number of jobless Filipinos in the labor force declined further in November 2023, results of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) Labor Force Survey showed.

At a press briefing on Tuesday, PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa reported that the number of unemployed individuals, ages 15 and above, went down to 1.83 million from 2.09 million in October 2023.

Year-on-year, the number of unemployed during the period was fewer by 350,000 compared to 2.18 million jobless persons in November.

As a percentage of the total 51.47 million people in the labor force who are actively seeking work, the unemployment rate stood at 3.6%.

This means 36 out of 1,000 individuals in the labor force do not have a job or livelihood in November 2023, Mapa said.

November 2023’s unemployment rate was the lowest since 2005, when the PSA introduced a new methodology in conducting the Labor Force Survey, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Relatedly, the number of employed persons grew to 49.64 million from 47.80 million in October. Year-on-year, however, individuals in the labor force with jobs was slightly lower than 49.71 million employed in November 2022.

This translates to an employment rate of 96.4%, up from the 95.8% in October and November 2022.

The services sector accounted for the largest share of employed persons at 59.65%, followed by agriculture accounting for 24.6% and industry at 15.9%.

The top five sub-sectors with the highest month-on-month increases in terms of employed persons are as follows:

• Agriculture and forestry - 1.47 million
• Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles - 794,000
• Accommodation and food service activities - 148,000
• Transportation and storage - 124,000
• Fishing and aquaculture - 124,000

Meanwhile, the top five sub-sectors with the highest month-on-month decreases in the number of employed persons are the following:

• Manufacturing - 656,000)
• Human health and social work activities - 144,000
• Information and communication - 77,000)
• Professional, scientific and technical activities - 74,000
• Public administration and defense; compulsory social security - 61,000

The PSA chief said wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons with 61.5% of the total employed persons in November 2023.

Self-employed persons without any paid employee and unpaid family workers followed with a share of 28.6% and 8%, respectively.

Employers in their own family-operated farm or business had the lowest share of 1.9%.

Among wage and salary workers, those employed in private establishments remained to have the highest share, accounting for 78.4% of the total for the class.

This was followed by those employed in government or government-controlled corporations with a share of 14.3%.

Underemployment rate fell to 11.7% in November 2023, from 14.4% in November 2022.

In October 2023, the underemployment rate was also at 11.7%.

In terms of magnitude, the number of underemployed persons or those who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job or to have a new job with longer hours of work in November 2023 was estimated at 5.79 million out of the 49.64 employed individuals.

In the same month of the previous year, the number of underemployed was higher at 7.16 million, but lower in October 2023 at 5.60 million.

Digital economy

In a separate statement, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan highlighted the need to expand the digital economy, including the digitalization of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups, to address the declining labor force and increase labor market gains in 2024 and beyond.

"Digitalization enables alternative work arrangements, particularly for the youth, women, and those in the creative sector. This will help address the declining labor force," said Balisacan.

"We will take full advantage of the liberalization reforms intended to attract investments in the Philippines, especially in digital infrastructure. Upgrading our infrastructure will attract investments that generate high-quality jobs," the government's chief economic planner said.

Balisacan added that the government will further support a more productive, agile, and adaptive workforce by passing and implementing crucial regulatory reforms, such as the Apprenticeship Bill, Lifelong Learning Bill, and the Enterprise Productivity Act.

The NEDA chief also underscored the need to establish a regulatory framework to allow alternative work arrangements, including part-time work, even in the formal economy.

"Allowing part-time work even in the formal sector will expand opportunities for lifelong learning, work experience in an organized setting, and coverage in social protection systems," Balisacan said.— RSJ, GMA Integrated News