Jobless rate rises to 4.3%, highest in six months

The country’s jobless rate rose to a six-month high in January as the seasonal demand for workers during the Christmas holidays faded.

- LOUELLA DESIDERIO

Deputy National Statistician Divina Gracia del Prado said in a press conference yesterday that preliminary results of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)’s Labor Force Survey showed the January unemployment rate at 4.3 percent. This is up from the previous month’s 3.1 percent, but lower than the 4.5 percent in January 2024.

The January jobless rate is the highest level since the 4.7 percent registered in July last year.

In terms of magnitude, the number of jobless Filipinos reached 2.16 million in January, higher than the previous month’s 1.63 million, but unchanged from January 2024.

The employment rate declined to 95.7 percent in January this year from 96.9 percent in December, but went up from 95.5 percent in January last year.

There were 48.49 million employed Filipinos in January, lower than the 50.19 million in December last year, but higher than the 45.90 million in January 2024.