The return to the strictest lockdown restrictions in August 2021 made the Philippines’ unemployment rate the highest among emerging Asian economies, reports The Business Inquirer, citing data from the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority. The Philippines’ latest jobless rate, at 8.1% last August, topped the six countries in the Neda report issued on Friday. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority also confirmed the country’s 8.1% unemployment rate in August. Meanwhile, India had an unemployment rate of 7.6% during the months of July and August; Indonesia, 6.3% in February; Malaysia, 4.8% in July; China, 3.9% in March; and Vietnam, 2.6% in June. Neda was optimistic that the implementation of ‘granular lockdowns’ and ramping up of mass vaccination outside Metro Manila, which recently experienced a spike in infections, would help regain jobs shed in the Philippines amid the pandemic.