PH unemployment rate now lower than before pandemic, Marcos tells WEF president

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. emphasized Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) that the country's unemployment rate is lower when compared to the figures during pre-pandemic days.

In his dialogue with World Economic Forum president Børge Brende in Davos, Switzerland, Marcos said the Philippine government has generated millions of employment since then.

"And in fact, our unemployment rate now is lower than it was before the pandemic. So we estimate that we have created about two million jobs since then," Marcos said.

"So as long as the — my theory, my belief, and I think I'm right in that is that, as long as the unemployment rate stays low, then the recessionary forces are something that we can resist," he added.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority indicated that the unemployment rate in the country in November 2022 was at 4.2%, lower than the 4.5% recorded in October 2022 and 6.5% recorded in November 2021.

The estimated unemployment rate in November 2022 was the lowest since April 2005, according to the PSA.

Marcos said since he assumed presidency in July 2022, he focused on the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) "because that comprise such a large part of our economy and it's the same in most ASEAN countries."

"And I think that’s where the growth is coming from," he said.

The President earlier expressed confidence that the Philippines would not experience recession due to the decrease in the number of unemployed Filipinos in the country. —KBK, GMA Integrated News