Applicants look at the list of jobs at a job fair. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA
MANILA, Philippines — The jobless rate in the country rose in January to 4.5 percent from December’s record low of 3.1 percent. This increase was accompanied by a decrease in the number of people looking for jobs.
According to the latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) survey of 169,700 households, there were 2.15 million unemployed Filipinos in January, up from 1.60 million in December.
At the same time 6.39 million people sought additional working hours in January to augment their income, up from 6.01 million in December.
Job quality
That translates to an underemployment rate of 13.9 percent, up from 11.9 percent in the preceding month and indication of a deteriorating job quality.
The increase in unemployment rate coincided with the drop in the country’s labor force, which represents people aged 15 and above who are actively looking for jobs.
In January, 48.09 million people were part of the labor force, down from 52.13 million in December.
That was equivalent to a labor force participation rate of 61.1 percent in January, lower than 66.6 percent in the previous month.
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