Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Monday, June 13, said that the unemployment rate in Region 6 dropped to 4.7 percent as of January 2022, 4.4 percent lower compared to that for January 2021 at 9.1 percent. It is also lower than the 5.8 percent in October 2021.
This means that there are 164,276 unemployed persons out of the region’s 3.49 million labor force.
It also means that at least 3.31 million are employed in the region comprising of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental as well as the urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
Aside from the decrease in unemployment, there is also a decrease in underemployment in Western Visayas. The unemployment rate dipped to 17 percent from the 20.1 percent recorded in January 2021. There are around 566,264 underemployed people or those who have jobs but not full-time jobs.