Unemployed Filipinos Reach 2.37 Million in January 2023 – PSA

The unemployment rate in January 2023 increased to 4.8% or 2.37 million Filipinos, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority's latest Labor Force Survey released on March 9.

The figure is higher than the unemployment rate in December 2022 (4.3%) and the highest since September 2022 (5.0%). It is lower, however, than the unemployment rate reported in the same month in 2022 at 6.4%

The survey also showed the Philippines' employment rate at 95.2% in January 2023, higher than the 93.6% from January 2022, which means the number of employed workers went up by 4.09 million at 47.35 million from 43.27 million in January 2022.

Meanwhile, the number of underemployed Filipinos who wished to have more work hours in their current job, to have an additional job, or to have a new job with more work hours was recorded at 6.65 million, as per the survey. This translates to an underemployment rate of 14.1% in January 2023, lower than the January 2022 rate of 14.9%.

The top five sectors identified to have the highest year-on-year increase in employed workers in January 2023 included wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.53 million); agriculture and forestry (960,000); accommodation and food service activities (549,000); transportation and storage (303,000); and other service activities (203,000).

On the other hand, the three sectors that showed a decrease in employed workers from January 2022 to January 2023 were construction (a deficit of 334,000); water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities (34,000 deficit); and professional, scientific, and technical activities (19,000 deficit).

To read more about the January 2023 Labor Force Survey, go here.