The unemployment rate in the Philippines stood at 4.8% in February 2023, down from 6.4% in February 2022, according to research from the Philippine Statistics Authority. The 4.8% rate is a preliminary estimate.

The unemployment rate in February 2023 also remained at its previous month’s rate of 4.8%. In terms of level, the number of unemployed persons was 2.47 million out of 51.27 million Filipinos who were in the labour force in February 2023.

Meanwhile, 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 6.29 million. This translates to an underemployment rate of 12.9%, which was lower than the reported underemployment rate in February 2022 (14.0%) and in January 2023 (14.1%).

The country’s employment rate in February 2023 remained at its previous month’s rate of 95.2%. In February 2022, employment rate was lower at 93.6%.

In terms of magnitude, the number of employed persons in February 2023 was estimated at 48.80 million, higher by 3.32 million from the 45.48 million employed persons reported in February last year.

The top five sub-sectors with the highest year-on-year change in the number of employed persons from February 2022 to February 2023 were: Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (701,000); Accommodation and food service activities (580,000); Agriculture and forestry (554,000); Other service activities (362,000); and Fishing and aquaculture (340,000).

On the other hand, the top five subsectors with the largest drop in terms of employed persons from February 2022 and February 2023 were: Human health and social work activities (-129,000); Construction (-103,000); Mining and quarrying (-60,000); Information and communication (-55,000); and Manufacturing (-38,000).

The labour force participation rate (LFPR) in February 2023 was registered at 66.6% or 51.27 million individuals who were either employed or unemployed out of the 77.00 million Filipinos aged 15 years and over. The reported LFPR in February 2023 was higher than the January 2023 and February 2022 LFPR at 64.5% and 63.8%, respectively.

The average weekly hours worked by an employed person in February 2023 was estimated at 39.5 hours per week. This was slightly lower than the average weekly hours worked in January 2023 of 39.6 hours and February 2022 of 40.8 hours.