8.7 million Filipinos are unemployed: Survey
Published on: Friday, May 26, 2023
By: GMA News
One of the national survey of Social Weather Stations
MANILA: A national survey of Social Weather Stations found that 19 per cent of the adult labour force or an estimated 8.7 million Filipinos are unemployed.
While the figure is lower than the 21.3 per cent or 9.6 million Filipinos reported without jobs in December 2022, it is still higher compared to the 17.5 per cent in December 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The survey was conducted from March 26 to 29, 2023 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide: 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The sampling error margins are ±2.8 per cent for national percentages, ±5.7 per cent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
According to SWS, the decline in joblessness was due to the decrease in unemployment in all areas of the country except in Mindanao.
“As of March 2023, adult joblessness was highest in Balance Luzon at 21.7 per cent, followed by Mindanao at 19.0 per cent, Metro Manila at 17.5 per cent, and the Visayas at 13.5 per cent,” it said.
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“Compared to December 2022, the quarterly joblessness fell from 24.8 per cent in Metro Manila, 23.1 per cent in Balance Luzon, and 18.6 per cent in the Visayas.
However, it hardly moved from 18.1 per cent in Mindanao,” it added.
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Those jobless are those who voluntarily left their old jobs, are seeking jobs for the first time, and lost their jobs due to economic circumstances beyond their control.
Joblessness peaked at 45.5 per cent in July 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. It went on a generally downward trend from September 2020 to
December 2022, reaching as low as 18.6 per cent in October 2022.
In the same survey, SWS also said the country’s Labour Force Participation Rate is at 62.4 per cent, or around 45.9 million — slightly higher than the 62.6 per cent, or an estimated 45.2 million, reported in December 2022.
SWS defines the labour force as adults (18 years and above) presently with a job plus those looking for a job.
The Labour Force Participation Rate is the proportion of adults in the labour force.
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