Neda Says the Govt Is Committed to Boost PH Employment Quality

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA has mentioned that the labor market in the country has kept its positive momentum with the rate of unemployment dropping to a record low since the beginning of the pandemic. NEDA says that the government will continue to improve the quality of employment to tackle the issue of underemployment in the Philippines.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the reopening of the economy meant an added 2.2 million Filipinos have joined the workforce, which brings up the Philippine labor force participation rate to 65.2% in September 2022 from 63.3% year-on-year.

Additionally, this has sped up the employment rate to 95% back in September 2022, which is an 8.9% increase from the same period in 2021. this means 1.8 million fewer, unemployed individuals. This figure makes the Philippines at par with major economies in Asia and is lower compared to China, Indonesia, and India.

“The recent survey results show the gains of the full reopening of our economy. The government will leverage on this momentum by strengthening policy interventions and investing in innovation and technology systems geared toward generating higher-quality employment that provides adequate income for Filipino workers and their families,”  stated NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

All sectors were seen to have grown in terms of employment with the services sector making up 2.8 million more employed individuals, trailed by the industry and agriculture sectors. The industry sector took in 682,000 more employees while the agriculture sector hired 461,000 more.

Source: Philippine News Agency