The employment rate in the Philippines for the month of January 2024 was estimated at 95.5%, higher than the employment rate in January 2023 at 95.2%, according to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

December’s employment rate stood at 96.9%.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in January 2024 stood at 4.5%, down from 4.8% the year prior and up from 3.1% the month before.

Further labour market data showed the number of employed persons in January 2024 was posted at 45.94 million, lower than the number of employed persons in the same month last year at 47.35 million.

At the same time, the number of unemployed individuals in January 2024 was estimated at 2.15 million. This was lower than the reported number unemployed persons in January 2023 of 2.38 million.

The country’s labour force participation rate (LFPR) in January 2024 was posted at 61.1%, lower than the reported LFPR in January 2023 at 64.5%. The reported LFPR in January 2024 translates to 48.09 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and over who were in the labour force, or those who were either employed or unemployed.

When it comes to hours worked, the data showed that the average weekly hours worked by an employed individual in January 2024 increased to 42.1 hours per week, from 39.5 average hours per week posted in January 2023.

By broad industry group, the services sector continued as the top sector in terms of the number of employed persons with a share of 60.2% of the 45.94 million employed persons. The agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 21.4% and 18.4% of the employed persons, respectively.

Wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons with 67.1% of the total employed persons in January 2024. This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 25.7% and unpaid family workers at 4.7%. Employers in own family-operated farm or business had the lowest share of 2.6%.