Employment rate rises to 94.6%, with unemployment down to 5.6%

The employment rate reached 94.6 percent in July, up by 1.1 percentage points from 93.5 percent a year earlier, the Philippine Statistic Authority revealed on Friday, citing preliminary data.

The statistics office noted the total labor force – 15 years old and above – has reached 68.436 million.

The employment rate is equivalent to 41.0 million employed persons, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) noted in a separate statement.

“Our growing economy, which is largely driven by output expansion in the services and industry sectors, has created more and better jobs,” said NEDA Director-General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia.
 
Services sector contributed the lion’s share of 55.3 percent to the total employment output. Industry sector followed with 17.8 percent share, driven largely by growth in manufacturing and construction, according to NEDA.

The unemployment rate declined by 1.1 percentage points to 5.4 percent in July from 6.5 percent a year earlier.

The underemployment rate settled at 17.3 percent from 21.0 percent year-on-year.

“The unemployment rate in July 2016, the lowest recorded for all July rounds in the past decade, increases the likelihood of achieving the Philippine Development Plan target of 6.5 to 6.7 percent for 2016,” Pernia noted.

The PSA defines the underemployed as "... persons who express 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 working hours." The underemployment rate is the percentage of the underemployed to the total employed.

According to the NEDA, the "vibrant labor market is a reflection of the gross domestic product growth (GDP).

"With faster and improved quality of economic growth, the Philippine labor market continues to show vibrancy as unemployment and underemployment rates fell in July 2016." — with Ted Cordero/ VDS, GMA News