PBBM’s job initiatives result in 95.8% employment rate

FILE: Passengers queue to get on board an Edsa Carousel bus at the Mega Q-Mart Station in Quezon City. (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)

MANILA – The efforts of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to provide jobs
to Filipinos gained momentum as the country’s employment rate improved in November 2022 at 95.8 percent or about 49.71 million employed Filipinos, Malacañang said on Friday.

Citing the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) Labor Force Survey conducted in November 2022, Presidential Communications Office officer-in-charge Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil said the 95.8 percent employment rate is the highest recorded employment rate since April 2005.

The country’s unemployment rate, meanwhile, improved at 4.2 percent from 4.5 percent in October 2022 and 6.5 percent in November 2021, according to the PSA.

The country’s labor force participation rate (LFPR) also picked up at 67.5 percent in November 2022, the highest LFPR since April 2005 — translating to about 51.8 million Filipinos 15 years old and over who were either employed or unemployed.

The survey also showed that by sector, the services sector continued to dominate the employment market, taking the lion’s share of employed persons of about 60.5 percent, followed by agriculture and the industry sectors accounting for 21.4 percent and 18.1 percent of the employed persons, respectively.

Garafil noted that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) adopted and implemented modern and responsive technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and apprenticeship with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in order to increase the employability of Filipino workers.

She also highlighted that Marcos ordered the reattachment of TESDA to the DOLE in September last year, resulting in “stronger and better program coordination as part of the upgrading of TVET systems.”

The DOLE also facilitated access to employment opportunities, ensured just and humane conditions of work, and promoted sound labor-management relations and industrial peace, she said.

The DOLE initiated the calibration of skills, certification, professional standards and licensure examinations benchmarked with international standards.

In its year-end report last month, the Marcos administration said the country recorded 46.3 million employed Filipinos across multiple sectors from January to October this year, as it prioritizes creating job opportunities and increasing Filipinos’ employability.

“The employability of the Filipino worker is vital to building a strong labor force. Maintaining a high degree of employability requires the continuous upgrading of skills and knowledge,” the administration report said.