NATIONAL
Advocates Philippines
Employment Rate Remains Strong In September 2023
Photo credit: DPWH
In September 2023, the country's employment rate stood at 95.5 percent, marking a slight increase from the previous year's 95.0 percent but a minor decrease from the 95.6 percent recorded in August 2023.
The data, released by the National Labor Statistics Office, revealed a robust employment landscape with 47.67 million individuals aged 15 and over employed, compared to 47.58 million in the same month the previous year. However, this figure represented a decrease from August 2023, which saw 48.07 million people employed.
While the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in September 2023 was 64.1 percent, a dip from 65.2 percent in September 2022 and 64.7 percent in August 2023, the unemployment rate remained relatively low at 4.5 percent.
This indicated a positive trend, with a decrease from 5.0 percent in the same month of the previous year.
Despite a slight rise from August 2023's 4.4 percent, the unemployment rate in September 2023 showcased a healthy job market.
The number of unemployed individuals decreased to 2.26 million in September 2023, compared to 2.50 million in September 2022.
However, it was higher than the 2.21 million reported in August 2023. Additionally, underemployment, a measure of individuals desiring additional work hours, experienced a decline, with an underemployment rate of 10.7 percent in September 2023, down from 15.4 percent in the same month of the previous year.
The services sector continued to dominate employment, constituting 60.4 percent of the workforce in September 2023, followed by the agriculture sector at 21.5 percent and the industry sector at 18.1 percent.
Within the employment landscape, certain sub-sectors demonstrated significant growth, including accommodation and food service activities (608 thousand), administrative and support service activities (535 thousand), construction (481 thousand), transportation and storage (255 thousand), and fishing and aquaculture (193 thousand).
Conversely, manufacturing (-888 thousand), wholesale and retail trade (-722 thousand), agriculture and forestry (-649 thousand), public administration and defense (-160 thousand), and financial and insurance activities (-113 thousand) experienced declines in employment.
Regarding employment types, wage and salary workers constituted the majority, accounting for 64.7 percent of employed persons in September 2023.
Private establishments employed the highest share of wage and salary workers at 78.2 percent, followed by government or government-controlled corporations at 14.7 percent.
Youth employment in September 2023 stood at 86.9 percent, a decrease from 88.5 percent in the same period last year and 87.8 percent in August 2023.
Among employed youth, 9.1 percent were underemployed, showcasing an improvement from the 12.4 percent reported in September 2022. The average weekly working hours for employed youth in September 2023 were 35.7 hours, a slight increase from 34.8 hours in September last year but a decrease from the 36.0 hours reported in August 2023.
The data, released by the National Labor Statistics Office, revealed a robust employment landscape with 47.67 million individuals aged 15 and over employed, compared to 47.58 million in the same month the previous year. However, this figure represented a decrease from August 2023, which saw 48.07 million people employed.
While the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in September 2023 was 64.1 percent, a dip from 65.2 percent in September 2022 and 64.7 percent in August 2023, the unemployment rate remained relatively low at 4.5 percent.
This indicated a positive trend, with a decrease from 5.0 percent in the same month of the previous year.
Despite a slight rise from August 2023's 4.4 percent, the unemployment rate in September 2023 showcased a healthy job market.
The number of unemployed individuals decreased to 2.26 million in September 2023, compared to 2.50 million in September 2022.
However, it was higher than the 2.21 million reported in August 2023. Additionally, underemployment, a measure of individuals desiring additional work hours, experienced a decline, with an underemployment rate of 10.7 percent in September 2023, down from 15.4 percent in the same month of the previous year.
The services sector continued to dominate employment, constituting 60.4 percent of the workforce in September 2023, followed by the agriculture sector at 21.5 percent and the industry sector at 18.1 percent.
Within the employment landscape, certain sub-sectors demonstrated significant growth, including accommodation and food service activities (608 thousand), administrative and support service activities (535 thousand), construction (481 thousand), transportation and storage (255 thousand), and fishing and aquaculture (193 thousand).
Conversely, manufacturing (-888 thousand), wholesale and retail trade (-722 thousand), agriculture and forestry (-649 thousand), public administration and defense (-160 thousand), and financial and insurance activities (-113 thousand) experienced declines in employment.
Regarding employment types, wage and salary workers constituted the majority, accounting for 64.7 percent of employed persons in September 2023.
Private establishments employed the highest share of wage and salary workers at 78.2 percent, followed by government or government-controlled corporations at 14.7 percent.
Youth employment in September 2023 stood at 86.9 percent, a decrease from 88.5 percent in the same period last year and 87.8 percent in August 2023.
Among employed youth, 9.1 percent were underemployed, showcasing an improvement from the 12.4 percent reported in September 2022. The average weekly working hours for employed youth in September 2023 were 35.7 hours, a slight increase from 34.8 hours in September last year but a decrease from the 36.0 hours reported in August 2023.
Nov 8, 2023
