The number of jobless individuals dipped to 1.6 million in December last year, the lowest in almost two decades, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported Wednesday, Feb. 7.

Based on the PSA’s Labor Force Survey of 11,235 households, the unemployment rate stood at 3.1 percent, lower than the 4.3 percent in December 2022, meaning there had been a decline of 617,000 unemployed individuals.

This also means that the employment rate surged during the period, which was posted at 96.9 percent or 50.52 million employed individuals from 95.7 percent in December 2022.

The top three sub-sectors that most Filipinos were employed in December 2023, according to the PSA, were in construction, agriculture and forestry, and accommodation and food service sectors.

It is worth noting, however, that the wholesale and retail trade sector experienced a decline of employed individuals at 660,000 amid the holiday season when businesses are commonly at their peak.

PSA Undersecretary Claire Dennis S. Mapa explained that this may be due to the fewer employed individuals in the food sector under the retail sector, which correlates with the low food consumption in the gross domestic product data in the fourth quarter of last year.

But this was offset by the increase in employed individuals in the furnishing and fixture sector comprised of stone masons and carpenters, he said.

The underemployment rate, on the other hand, also saw a decline in December last year at 11.9 percent or 6.01 million individuals who want to have additional hours of work or an additional job.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said that they expect this trend to persist as the government pushes for more investments.

“We will continue ramping up social and physical infrastructure investments and dramatically improve human capital to strengthen our people’s employment prospects,” Balisacan said.

In addition, the NEDA chief also called on the government to increase the utilization of digital technology with the passing of the Open Access in Data Transmission Bill.

He also cited the reforms on education and training programs that will foster upskilling and reskilling initiatives such as the Apprenticeship Bill, Lifelong Learning Bill, and Enterprise Productivity Act.

“These efforts will complement the various initiatives to provide upgraded and expanded employment facilitation services to support our robust labor market,” he added.