The unemployment rate in the Philippines in August 2022 stood at 5.3%, down from 8.1% in August 2021 and up slightly from 5.2% in July 2022, according to research from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The number of unemployed persons in August 2022 increased to 2.68 million from 2.60 million in July 2022, registering a month-on-month increase of 78.64 thousand unemployed individuals. However, the number of unemployed persons in August 2022 was lower by 1.20 million compared with the number of unemployed persons in August 2021.

Meanwhile, the employment rate in August 2022 was estimated at 94.7%, up from 91.9% the previous year and down from 94.8% last month.

The number of employed persons was estimated at 47.87 million in August 2022 while it was at 44.23 million for the same period last year. In July 2022, the number of employed persons was 47.39 million.

Year-on-year, from August 2021 to August 2022, the top five sub-sectors with the largest increases in the number of employed persons were: Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.54 million); Accommodation and food service activities (479,000); Administrative and support service activities (416,000); Transportation and storage (349,000); and Education (288,000).

The top five sub-sectors with largest decreases in employment were noted in Agriculture and forestry (-140,000); Fishing and aquaculture (-124,000); Construction (-81,000); Manufacturing (-48,000); and Information and communication (-12,000).

The labour force participation rate (LFPR) in August 2022 was estimated at 66.1%, the highest reported rate since January of this year. The rate in August 2021 was registered at 63.6% and stood at 65.2% in July 2022.

The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) remained higher among men at 76.2% compared to women at 55.9% in August 2022.

The average hours worked by an employed person in August 2022 remained unchanged at 40.5 hours per week compared with that in July 2022. However, this was higher than the average hours worked in the same period last year at 39.6 hours per week.