April 2022 PH employment rate 2.36M higher than last year

The report said the increase this year was by about 2.36 million compared to 43.27 million or 91.3 percent employment rate in April 2021. (Pexels Photo)

MANILA – The country’s employment rate improved in April 2022, estimated to be at 94.3 percent or about 45.63 million employed Filipinos, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Friday.

The report said the increase this year was by about 2.36 million compared to 43.27 million or 91.3 percent employment rate in April 2021.

The country’s unemployment rate also dropped from the reported 8.7 percent a year ago to 5.7 percent in April 2022.

The sub-sector with the highest increase is Administration and Support Service Activities (+349,000); followed by Accommodation and Food Service Activities (+343,000); Transportation and Storage (+289,000); Agriculture and Forestry (+251,000); and Construction (+249,000).

Zamboanga Peninsula registered the highest employment rate at 97.1 percent while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao posted the lowest employment rate at 91.9 percent, according to the PSA.

On the other hand, the sub-sectors of Fishing and Aquaculture (-59,000); Education (-55,000); and Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles (-24,000) registered the lowest number of employed persons from April 2021 to April 2022.

“Ang pre-pandemic naman ay nasa 5 percent level. Nagfa-fluctuate siya. Ang pinakamababa niya actually was in October 2019 na nasa 4.5 percent. Hindi naman talaga significant pero nakikita naman natin tumataas ‘yung ating LFPR (Labor Force Participation Rate). Dumadami ang mga gustong mag-participate sa ating labor market (The pre-pandemic was at the 5 percent level. It fluctuates. The lowest [unemployment rate] was in October 2019 at 4.5 percent. It is not really significant but we see our LFPR increasing. More are interested in participating in our labor market),” National Statistician and Civil Registrar General, Undersecretary Dennis Mapa, explained in a media briefing on Friday.

Mapa is expecting the unemployment rate to continue decreasing as alert levels relax amid increasing LFPR.

“What we are seeing now in the unemployment rate, it is really going down,” Mapa added, citing the harvest season in the agriculture sector which largely contributed to the decrease.

Among the regions, Northern Mindanao posted the highest LFPR in April 2022 with 68.7 percent while Region XI registered the lowest at 57.4 percent.