PH unemployment rate eases to 3.9% in August

The Philippines' unemployment rate dropped to 3.9 percent, equivalent to 2.03 million jobless Filipinos, in August, easing from the three-year high of 5.3 percent recorded in July, as employment gains returned across key sectors, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday, Oct. 8.

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This translated into an employment rate of 96.1 percent, or 50.1 million employed Filipinos, higher than the 94.7 percent, or 46.05 million Filipinos with jobs, last July, and 96 percent, or 49.15 million employed Filipinos, in August last year.

The latest PSA data showed that the decline in unemployment contributed to a drop in underemployment in August, which eased to 10.7 percent, compared to 14.8 percent in the previous month and 11.2 percent in the same month last year.