Unemployment Rate Climbs to 4.5% in June

In June, the unemployment rate inched up to 4.5%, as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday.

After a three-month decline, the June rate surpassed the previous month’s 4.3%, yet remained lower than the 6.0% recorded in June 2022.

This translates to a total of 2.33 million unemployed individuals in the Philippines, marking an increase of 159,000 compared to May’s count of 2.17 million. Nonetheless, this represents a decrease from last year’s June figure of 2.99 million, indicating a year-on-year reduction of 663,000 jobless individuals.

Simultaneously, underemployment, which includes those actively seeking additional work or secondary employment, rose to 12.0%, slightly up from May’s 11.7%, but marginally below June 2022’s underemployment rate of 12.6%.

The underemployed population corresponds to approximately 5.87 million individuals “who express the desire for more working hours in their current job, additional job opportunities, or a new employment role with extended work hours.” (ai/mnm)