THE unemployment rate in April 2023 and January 2024, both at 4.5 percent.
In terms of magnitude, the number of unemployed individuals in April 2024 was registered at 2.04 million. This was lower than the estimated number of unemployed persons of 2.26 million in April 2023 and 2.15 million in January 2024.
The employment rate in the country increased to 96.0 percent in April 2024, from 95.5 percent in both April 2023 and January 2024.
In terms of level, the number of employed persons in April 2024 was estimated at 48.36 million. This was higher than the number of employed persons in April 2023 at 48.06 million and in January 2024 at 45.94 million.
The labor force participation rate (LFPR) in April 2024 was registered at 64.1 percent, lower than the estimated LFPR in April 2023 at 65.1 percent. In January 2024, the LFPR was estimated at 61.1 percent.
The reported LFPR in April 2024 translates to a total of 50.40 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and over who were in the labor force, or those who were either employed or unemployed. The number of individuals aged 15 years old and over who were in the labor force was 50.31 million in April 2023 and 48.09 million in January 2024.
On average, employed persons worked 40.5 hours per week. This was higher than the average hours worked in a week in April 2023 at 36.9 hours, but lower than the average hours worked in a week in January 2024 at 42.1 hours. (Table A)
The underemployment rate in April 2024 increased to 14.6 percent, from 12.9 percent in April 2023 and 13.9 percent in January 2024
In terms of magnitude, 7.04 million of the 48.36 million employed individuals expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work in April 2024.
By broad industry group, the services sector continued as the top sector in terms of the number of employed persons with a share of 61.4 percent of the 48.36 million employed persons. The agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 20.3 percent and 18.3 percent of the employed persons, respectively.
The top five sub-sectors in terms of annual increase in the number of employed persons in April 2024 were the following:
Accommodation and food service activities (638 thousand);
Construction (378 thousand);
Transportation and storage (289 thousand);
Manufacturing (285 thousand); and
Other service activities (200 thousand).
In contrast, the following five sub-sectors posted the highest annual decreases in the number of employed persons:
Agriculture and forestry (-818 thousand);
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (-587 thousand)
Human health and social work activities (-85 thousand);
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (-72 thousand); and
Real estate activities (-68 thousand);
As to quarter-on-quarter changes in the number of employed persons in April 2024, the top five sub-sectors with the largest increase were the following:
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
(1.09 million);
Accommodation and food service activities (626 thousand);
Manufacturing (218 thousand);
Other service activities (169 thousand); and
Construction (163 thousand).
On the other hand, the top five sub-sectors with the largest drop in the number of employed persons from January 2024 to April 2024 were the following:
Professional, scientific and technical activities (-96 thousand);
Information and communication (-66 thousand);
Fishing and aquaculture (-47 thousand);
Real estate activities (-30 thousand); and
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (-17 thousand);
Wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons with 63.6 percent of the total employed persons in April 2024. This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.9 percent and unpaid family workers at 6.5 percent. Employers in own family-operated farm or business had the lowest share of 2.1 percent.
Among wage and salary workers, those employed in private establishments remained to have the highest share of 78.7 percent of the wage and salary workers or 50.0 percent of the total employed. This was followed by those employed in government or government-controlled corporations with a share of 14.0 percent of the wage and salary workers or 8.9 percent of the total employed.
Across regions, Region V (Bicol Region) posted the highest unemployment rate at 5.4 percent in April 2024, while Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) had the lowest unemployment rate of 2.3 percent.
Youth LFPR decreased to 32.6 percent, from 34.7 percent reported in the same month last year. Similarly, youth employment rate dropped to 89.5 percent, from 90.0 percent in April 2023.
The proportion of youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET) in April 2024 increased to 11.0 percent, from 10.3 percent in April 2023.
