The unemployment rate in the Philippines stood at 4.7% in March 2023, down from 5.8% in March 2022, according to research from the Philippine Statistics Authority. The 4.7% rate is a preliminary estimate.

The unemployment rate in March 2023 also edged downward from the 4.8% rate seen in February.

The 4.7% rate in March translates to 2.42 million unemployed Filipinos out of 51.00 million Filipinos who were in the labour force in March 2023.

Meanwhile, the underemployment rate, which refers to the number of underemployed persons or those employed persons who 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 was recorded at 11.2%, down from 15.8% in the same month last year and 12.9% in February 2023.

The reported underemployment rate was equivalent to 5.44 million persons who 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 long hours of work.

The country’s employment rate in March 2023 was estimated at 95.3%. This was higher than the reported employment rate in the same month last year at 94.2% and in the previous month at 95.2%.

In terms of magnitude, the number of employed persons in March 2023 was estimated at 48.58 million, posting an increase of 1.61 million from the 46.98 million employed persons in March 2022.

The year-on-year increase in employment was driven by services and industry sectors. The top five sub-sectors with highest year-on-year increase in the number of employed in March 2023 were the following: Transportation and storage (533,000), Accommodation and food service activities (447,000); Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (407,000); Construction (384,000); and Other service activities (344,000).

In contrast, the top five sub-sectors with the largest drop in the number of employed persons from March 2022 to March 2023 were the following: Agriculture and forestry (-607,000); Financial and insurance activities (-156,000); Manufacturing (-136,000); Human health and social work activities (-130,000); and Information and communication (-78,000).

The average weekly hours worked by an employed person in March 2023 was estimated at 40.0 hours per week. This was slightly lower than the average weekly hours worked in March 2022 at 40.6 hours but higher than the estimate in February 2023 of 39.5 hours. 

The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) was registered at 66.0% in March 2023, which was higher than the 65.4% rate in March last year but lower than the 66.6 rate reported in February 2023.