Photo credit: City Government of San Pedro

Let's dive into some good news about the Philippines' job market, as highlighted by the June 2024 Labor Force Survey.

The country's employment rate hit a remarkable 96.9% in June, marking a significant jump from 95.5% in June 2023 and 95.9% in May 2024. This means that more Filipinos are finding work, with 50.28 million people employed in June 2024 compared to 48.84 million a year ago and 48.87 million just a month before.

Unemployment is also down, dropping to 3.1% from 4.5% in June 2023 and 4.1% in May 2024. That translates to 1.62 million people out of work, which is a decrease from the previous year's 2.33 million and May 2024’s 2.11 million. This positive shift shows a robust improvement in the job market.

The labor force participation rate (LFPR), however, showed a slight dip to 66.0% from 66.1% in June 2023, though it’s up from May 2024’s 64.8%. This still means a healthy number of 51.90 million Filipinos aged 15 and above are either employed or actively seeking work.

When it comes to hours worked, employed individuals averaged 40.9 hours per week in June 2024, which is an increase from both June 2023’s 40.0 hours and May 2024’s 40.6 hours. On the flip side, underemployment edged up to 12.1% from 12.0% last year and 9.9% in May 2024. This shows that 6.08 million of the employed Filipinos are looking for more hours or additional jobs.

Looking at industries, the services sector is leading the charge with 58.7% of all employed persons, followed by agriculture (21.1%) and industry (20.2%). The construction sector saw the biggest annual increase in employment, adding 938,000 jobs. Other notable gains were in wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and food services, manufacturing, and transportation and storage.

On the downside, agriculture and forestry shed 916,000 jobs over the year, followed by public administration and defense, and fishing and aquaculture. Monthly changes also showed some ups and downs, with construction and agriculture seeing big gains while public administration, education, and transportation faced declines.

Wage and salary workers made up the bulk of the workforce at 63.8%, predominantly in private establishments. Self-employed individuals accounted for 27.0%, and unpaid family workers and employers in their own businesses made up the rest.

Youth employment saw an uptick, reaching 91.4% in June 2024, up from last year's 88.8%. Of the 6.21 million employed youth, 12.9% were underemployed, higher than the previous year's 8.5%.