The country's unemployment fell to 5.7 percent in April, nearing the 5.3 percent pre-COVID level, on continued reopening of the domestic economy, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
The April performance was also a significant improvement from 8.7 percent a year ago and slightly below 5.8 percent in March this year. Notably, the April rate was just 0.4 percentage point higher than pre-pandemic level of 5.3 percent.
This translates to 2.76 million jobless Filipinos last April, a significant reduction from 4.14 million unemployed adults aged 15 and above in the same month last year. The April number is also fewer than the 2.87 million unemployed Filipinos recorded last March.
Underemployment also declined from 15.8 percent to 14 percent in the same period in 2021.
However, the labor force participation rate decreased from 65.4 percent to 63.4 percent, translating to a net employment loss of 1.3 million between March and April, PSA data showed.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said the fewer Filipinos who participated in the labor force was due to supply chain disruptions brought about by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and seasonal factors in agriculture, among others.
Of the 1.3 million net employment loss, 1.1 million were from agriculture while 0.5 million were from services. This was slightly tempered by 0.3 million employment generated in the industry sector.
“Higher oil prices and seasonal factors have impacted workers in the transport and agriculture sectors, respectively, and hindered some from going to work. To address this, the government will urgently distribute targeted subsidies to the hardest-hit sectors to cushion higher prices,” Chua said.
The government is rolling out targeted subsidies amounting to P6.1 billion for the transport and agriculture sectors.
This consists of P5 billion worth of fuel vouchers to qualified public utility vehicle drivers and operators who will each receive a P6,500 fuel subsidy under the Pantawid Pasada program. Meanwhile, P1.1 billion will be distributed as fuel discounts to farmers and fisherfolk.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board also approved the P1 provisional fare increase for public utility jeepneys in the National Capital Region, Region 3, and Region 4A to address increasing fuel prices.
The Civil Service Commission has also allowed government offices to adopt flexible work arrangements, such as four-day work weeks, to help employees save on fuel costs.
Despite external risks, overall employment remained at 3.1 million above the pre-pandemic level as around 80 percent of the economy has been placed under alert level 1.
Chua, meanwhile, said the full resumption of face-to-face schooling will also help bring back employment in the hardest-hit sector, reiterating that the country cannot reap the full benefits of Alert Level 1 without the full resumption of face-to-face classes.
This is among the strategies cited in Executive Order No. 166, which adopts the Economic Development Cluster’s 10-point-policy agenda to accelerate and sustain economic recovery.
Without the full resumption of face-to-face classes, businesses that cater to students remain closed or operate at reduced capacity, Chua said.
In addition, one-fourth of parents cannot go to work as they need to support and manage their children’s online schooling, thus limiting the income generation of some households.
“The Philippine economy has recovered to its pre-pandemic gross domestic product level this year. We must now focus on accelerating our growth by strengthening our domestic economy and investing in the education and development of our children. This will help secure better employment opportunities for future generations,” Chua said.