The unemployment rate in the Philippines in September 2022 stood at 5.0%, down from 8.9% in September 2021 and down from 5.3% in September 2022, according to research from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The 5.0% figure translates to 2.50 million unemployed Filipinos out of 50.08 million Filipinos who were in the labour force in September 2022.

The country’s employment rate was estimated at 95.0% in September 2022 from 94.7% in the previous month and 91.1% the previous year. The employment rate in September 2022 was the highest recorded rate since January 2020.

The research found that 47.58 million Filipinos were employed in September 2022. This was lower than the number of employed persons in August 2022 at 47.87 million but higher than the 43.59 million employed persons in September 2021. 

The top five sub-sectors with the highest year-on-year change in the number of employed persons in September 2022 were the following:
1. Manufacturing (+1.09 million);
2. Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (+852,000);
3. Agriculture and forestry (+599,000);
4. Accommodation and food service activities (+482,000); and
5. Transportation and storage (+470,000).

In contrast, the top five subsectors with the largest drop in terms of employed persons from September 2021 to September 2022 were the following:
a.   Construction (-394,000);
b.   Fishing and aquaculture (-138,000);
c.   Arts, entertainment, and recreation (-80,000);
d.   Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply (-46,000); and
e.   Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (-33,000).

The labour force participation rate in September 2022 was registered at 65.2% or about 50.08 million individuals who were either employed or unemployed out of the 76.83 million Filipinos aged 15 years and over. The September 2022 participation rate of 65.2% was lower than the August 2022 rate of 66.1% but higher than the rate reported in September 2021 at 63.3%.

Meanwhile, the labour force participation rate in September 2022 was higher among men (75.5%) than women (54.8%). The employment rate for men was also higher at 95.5% compared with that of women at 94.4%. Furthermore, men had a lower unemployment rate at 4.5% than their female counterpart at 5.6%.

The average weekly hours worked by an employed person in September 2022 was estimated at 39.6 hours per week. This was lower than the average weekly hours worked in August 2022 of 40.5 hours and in the same period last year of 40.2 hours.