Unemployment rate in November fell to its lowest level in over 17-years, signaling the strong recovery of the economy from the prolonged pandemic, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Friday, Jan. 6, that the level of joblessness dropped to 4.2 percent in November last year from 6.5 percent in the same month a year ago. It is also down from 4.5 percent in October.

The latest jobless rate was also the lowest since April 2005.

In a briefing, National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said wholesale and retail trade as well as manufacturing registered the highest month-on-month increase in the number of employed persons.

Mapa also noted that employment in accommodation and food service activities; agriculture and forestry; and public administration and defense have also improved.

In terms of magnitude, there were about 2.18 million jobless Filipinos in November 2022. This was lower than the 2.24 million in October and 3.16 million a year earlier.

Accordingly, the employment rate increased to 95.8 percent or an additional 4.2 million persons. This brings the total employment to 49.7 million.

"The services sector continued to dominate the employment market, having the largest share of employed persons of about 60.5 percent. The agriculture and the industry sectors accounted for 21.4 percent and 18.1 percent of the employed persons, respectively,” Mapa said.

The country’s labor force participation rate also picked-up at 67.5 percent in November, translating to about 51.88 million Filipinos 15-years old and above who were either employed or unemployed.

However, underemployed Filipinos, or those who are already employed full-time yet still looking for additional work, increased to 14.4 percent from P14.2 percent in October.

But this level was lower compared with 16.8 percent in November 2021.

NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the strong labor market signifies the steady recovery of the Philippine economy.

Balisacan said an additional 3.2 million Filipinos, of whom 2.5 million are women, entered the labor force. This development increased women’s labor force participation to 57.8 percent from 52.2 percent last year.

“We see a more dynamic labor market as flexible work arrangements and digitalization provide easier access to employment opportunities for Filipinos who also attend to other essential tasks such as parenting and pursuing higher education, among others,” Balisacan said

“Creating an enabling environment to attract investments that can create more and high-quality employment while improving the employability of Filipinos are among the major strategies to advance economic and social transformation,” he added.

The NEDA chief added that measures to attract investments include the upgrading and expanding of infrastructure, and improving regulatory and bureaucratic efficiency.