Unemployed Filipinos down to 1.66M in Nov. 2024 — PSA

The number of jobless Filipinos posted a decline in November 2024 amid the seasonal increase in demand for labor during the “ber” months leading to the holidays, the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday.

At a press conference, PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said jobless individuals, ages 15 and above, stood at 1.66 million, lower than the 1.97 million jobless in October 2024.

Year-on-year, the number of unemployed persons in November 2024 was also lower than the 1.83 million jobless in November 2023.

As a percentage of 51.20 million Filipinos in the labor force, who are actively looking for jobs and livelihoods during the period, the number of jobless persons translated to an unemployment rate of 3.2%, down from 3.9% in October 2024.

Meanwhile, employed persons grew to 49.54 million in November 2024 from 48.16 million in October 2024, but slightly lower compared to 49.64 million individuals with jobs or livelihoods in November 2023.

As a percentage of those in the labor force, the employment rate was estimated at 96.8%, up from 96.1% month-on-month.

The PSA chief attributed the favorable labor statistics to the seasonal hype for workers during the holiday season.

In particular, Mapa said that there was an over 500,000 increase in the number of employed persons in accommodation and food service activities in November.

The top five sub-sectors in terms of annual increase in the number of employed persons in November 2024 were the following:

• Manufacturing - 784,000
• Accommodation and food service activities - 528,000
• Human health and social work activities - 303,000
• Other service activities - 239,000
• Transportation and storage - 190,000

On the other hand, the following four sub-sectors posted the highest yearly decreases in the number of employed persons:

• Agriculture and forestry - 1.99 million
• Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles - 327,000
• Fishing and aquaculture - 276,000
• Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply - 35,000

The PSA chief reported that the services sector remained as the top sector in terms of the number of employed persons with a share of 62.1% of the 49.54 million employed persons in November last year.

The agriculture and industry sectors followed, accounting for 20% and 17.9% of the employed persons, respectively.

Underemployment

The underemployment rate in November 2024 eased to 10.8% from 12.6% in October 2024.

In terms of magnitude, 5.35 million of the 49.54 million employed individuals expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work in November last year.

"Our labor market remains robust, with consistently high employment rates and reduced underemployment. The next step is to expand business and employment opportunities to enable more Filipinos to actively and productively contribute to the economy. Moreover, we will encourage business upgrading and skills training programs to ensure that these jobs offer competitive wages as our workers raise their productivity by developing their human capital," National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a statement.

Wage and salary workers

Moreover, wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons with 63.8% of the total number of employed persons in November 2024.

This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.8% and unpaid family workers at 6.6%.

Employers in their own family-operated farm or business had the lowest share of 1.8%.

Among wage and salary workers, those employed in private establishments remained to have the highest share at 78.7% of the wage and salary workers or 50.2% of the total number of employed persons during the period.

This was followed by those employed in government or government-controlled corporations with a share of 13.7% of the wage and salary workers or 8.7% of the total number of employed persons.

Balisacan emphasized a multifaceted approach to ensuring an efficient labor market, which involves enabling investments in quality job-generating sectors, enhancing skills and workforce mobility, and improving employment facilitation services.

"The government needs to facilitate the adoption of alternative work arrangements to account for workers' evolving preferences while considering organizations' emerging demands. In addition, the government focuses on accelerating government programs that will increase employability, especially among the youth," the NEDA chief said.

The country’s chief economist also underscored the timely implementation of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) Act and the Enterprise-Based Education and Training (EBET) Framework Act to improve the business climate, attract investments, generate employment, and equip the workforce with skills to meet the demands of emerging industries.

— RSJ, GMA Integrated News