According to data released on Friday by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), local employers increased their hiring of Filipinos in August.
National Statistician Dennis Mapa stated during a briefing that there were 2.21 million unemployed Filipinos, down from 2.27 million in July.
The most recent statistic also equals a 4.4% national unemployment rate.
In August, there were 50.29 million people in the work force, up from 46.90 million in July.
The number of people who were employed increased to 48 million in August, up from 44.63 million in July, while the number of those who were underemployed or still seeking for work declined from 7.10 million to 5.63 million.
According to Mapa, the country experienced an increase in activity related to fishing, agriculture, and retail commerce in the wake of the school opening.
“Napansin namin na nagkaron ng activities na related to planting noong August after nung binaha tayo noong July kaya tumigil,” the official declared.
We saw planting-related operations in August after they had been put on hold owing to flooding in July.
According to Mapa, the PSA also showed a growth in the number of people employed in retail trade for jobs related to education, such as those making school uniforms.
Agricultural and forestry saw the largest rise in employment among all industries, according to month-over-month data, with 1.95 million new jobs. With 1.14 million, wholesale and retail trade came in second.
Education, fisheries and aquaculture, and the construction industries all had increases in employment.
However, despite an increase in the number of employed people, the standard of employment remained poor.
“Ang galaw sa wages and salaries is small. Malaking surge at unpaid family workers and the self-employed… the jobs are not of high quality,” remarked Mapa.
[Transcription: Wages and salary workers only slightly changed. Although the number of independent contractors and unpaid family workers significantly increased, the standard of employment did not.
When asked if he anticipated a more active labor market in the fourth quarter, Mapa responded that the ‘Ber’ months had a seasonality effect due to the opening of additional markets and bazaars by enterprises.
