Number Of Jobless Filipinos Increased In Feb. 2023 – PSA

The number of Filipinos who were available for work but had no jobs or businesses increased in February, according to a survey by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The February 2023 Labor Force Survey covering 11,242 households conducted by the PSA said there were 2.47 million Filipinos who were unemployed. The number of jobless Filipinos was notably higher in February compared to January when figures stood at 2.37 million. In comparison, the number of jobless Filipinos in the same month last year was at 3.13 million, Claire Dennis Mapa, PSA Undersecretary said in this report.

The unemployment rate in the country for February is at 4.8 percent – the same as January despite more Filipinos taking part in the labor force either as jobholders or seekers, the PSA pointed out. In contrast, the unemployment rate in February 2022 was at 6.4 percent.

PSA defines unemployed persons as respondents who are 15 years and above who had no job or business during the survey or those who are available or willing to work or seeking work during the reference period.

Meanwhile, the employment rate in February remained high at 95.2 percent as in January. This translates to 48.80 million citizens actively serving in the workforce.

The survey also noted the top five subsectors with the largest drop in employment from February 2022 and 2023 are the following: Social work activities, construction, mining and quarrying, information and communication, manufacturing and Human health.

In relation to the drop in health workers actively serving in the industry, a labor union group earlier noted the staffing problems in Philippine hospitals and urged the government to improve the salaries and working conditions of nurses to slow down the exodus of health workers migrating to countries that offer better pay and benefits.

The Filipino Nurses United (FNU) earlier said salaries of entry-level nurses must be increased to P50,000 to solve understaffing woes in Philippine hospitals. Similarly, a party-list representative said scholarships must for nursing students in exchange for service in government hospitals is also a viable option.

Previously, non-profit organization IBON Foundation cited the Philippines as among the countries having the worst unemployment and inflation rates compared to neighbors in Southeast Asia.

In June 2022, the Philippines has the second-highest inflation rate (6.1percent) compared to other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next to Thailand according to this report.