PH maintains 95.2% employment rate in February

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The country’s February 2023 employment rate remains the same as its January data at 95.2%. 

This latest figure is higher than February 2022’s 93.6% record.

According to Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) latest data, around 48.80 million Filipinos were employed in February 2023, up 3.32 million from the 45.48 million workers reported in February last year.

The services sector consistently dominated the labor market with a 59.6% share of the total employed population, followed by the agriculture and industry sectors at 24.1% and 16.3%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate also remained at its previous month’s rate of 4.8%, lower than last year’s 6.4%. The underemployed rate also dropped to 12.9% in February 2023 compared to February 2022’s 14% and January 2023’s 14.1%.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the most recent labor rate data “suggests that the Philippine labor market is steadily recovering.”

“The lifting of various restrictions that previously impeded employment opportunities has resulted in an increase in job prospects for Filipino workers,” he added.