The number of unemployed Filipinos has continued to rise for the second consecutive month in April, influenced by the ongoing effects of the El Niño phenomenon, particularly impacting the agricultural sector, as revealed by the latest Labor Force Survey (LFS) from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
During a press conference on Thursday, PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa reported that the number of jobless individuals aged 15 and above increased to 2.04 million in April, up from 2 million in March. However, this figure is still lower compared to the 2.26 million unemployed in April 2023.
As a percentage of the 50.40 million people in the labor force actively seeking work, the unemployment rate rose to 4% in April, slightly higher than the 3.9% recorded in March.
Mapa highlighted a significant year-on-year decrease of 818,000 employed persons in the agriculture and forestry sector, attributing this to the adverse effects of El Niño. “This could be because of the impact of El Niño… as production was lower, you have that decrease also in employed [persons],” she said.
According to a GMA News Online report, the first quarter of 2024 saw crop production drop by 0.3% to P247.04 billion, with the country’s main crop, rice, declining by 1.96% to 4.69 million metric tons due to drier weather conditions.
The employment rate in April stood at 96%, slightly down from 96.1% in March but higher than the 95.5% recorded in April last year. The services sector continued to dominate, accounting for 61.4% of the total employed individuals, followed by agriculture at 20.3% and industry at 18.3%.
Sectors with the highest employment growth included accommodation and food service activities (638,000), construction (378,000), transportation and storage (289,000), and manufacturing (285,000).
Despite the overall decline in employment, there was an increase in underemployment. The number of underemployed individuals—those seeking additional working hours or jobs—rose to 7.04 million from 5.39 million in March, pushing the underemployment rate to 14.6% from 11%.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan emphasized the government’s commitment to improving job quality and creating new opportunities through infrastructure projects. “The government’s massive infrastructure push is expected to create opportunities in several priority sectors, such as energy, logistics, and tourism,” Balisacan stated.
On April 30, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. signed Executive Order No. 59 to expedite the implementation of the country’s Infrastructure Flagship Projects and improve the ease of doing business, aiming to boost investments and job creation.
The government is also drafting the Trabaho Para sa Bayan (TPB) Plan to address employment challenges, including unemployment, underemployment, and informal working arrangements.