Malacañang welcomed the easing of the country's unemployment rate in March this year to 7.1 percent --- the lowest since the country went into lockdown in March last year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the number of unemployed Filipinos went down to 3.44 million in March compared to the 4.2 million reported in February.
In his press briefing on Thursday, Roque welcomed the report as a piece of "good news."
"Mabuting balita po. Ini-report ng na bumbaba ang ating unemployment rate sa 7.1 percent sa March 2021 (Good news! The PSA reported that the country's unemployment rate went down to 7.1 percent in March 2021)," he said.
"This is the lowest reported rate covering the period of COVID-19 since April 2020," he added, citing the PSA report.
He noted that the Philippines went from a 17.6-percent unemployment rate in April last year.
Meanwhile, Roque urged the public to continue following anti-COVID-19 measures so they can keep on working.
"Tuloy lang po natin ang pag-iingat natin sa ating mga buhay para tayo po ay makapaghanapbuhay (Let us continue to take care of ourselves so we can continue making a leaving)," he said.
Data from the PSA showed that the labor force participation rate is at 65 percent or 48.77 million in March this year, still higher than 47.34 million or 63.5 percent in February.
The survey was conducted from March 8 to March 27 before the Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal reverted to enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) on March 29 due to the alarming spike in COVID-19 cases.