Unemployment rate slides to 4%; employment rate now at 96%

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ unemployment rate slid down to 4% in August, translating to 2.07 million Filipinos who are jobless, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday, October 8.  

This is an improvement from the July unemployment rate, which was at 4.7%. 

“In terms of magnitude, the number of unemployed individuals in August 2024 was registered at 2.07 million. This was lower than the estimated number of unemployed persons of 2.22 million in August 2023 and 2.38 million in July 2024,” the PSA said. 

This means the employment rate is currently at 96%, which translates to 49.15 million employed individuals.

The labor force participation rate (LFPR), which is the ratio of the working age population to the actual labor force, is currently at 64.7% for August. This participation rate is higher than the 63.5% in July. 

Underemployment, or those who need additional work hours or a second job, is at 11.2% or 5.48 million people.  

“The reported LFPR in August 2024 translates to a total of 51.22 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and over who were in the labor force, or those who were either employed or unemployed,” the PSA said. 

The PSA also said that employed persons worked an average of 40.7 hours per week. 

It should be noted that the government considers a person employed if they work at least one hour a week.