September jobless rate inches up amid natural disasters

THE PHILIPPINES’ unemployment rate rose to 3.8% in September from a year earlier, signaling a fragile labor recovery as natural disasters disrupted hiring ahead of the holiday season, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed on Thursday.

- By Chloe Mari A. Hufana Reporter

About 1.96 million Filipinos were jobless during the month, up from 1.89 million a year earlier, when the jobless rate was 3.7%, National Statistician Claire Dennis $. Mapa told a news briefing, citing the impact of typhoons and earthquakes on employment.

Despite this, Labor Secretary Bienvenido E, Laguesma told Business World that he is “hopeful” the upcoming holiday period will spur hiring activity.

The latest jobless rate was an improvement from August’s 3.9%, when 2.03 million were out of work.

Employment stood at 49.6 million in September, slightly below September 2024’s 49.87 million.

“[Holiday hiring] usually starts in the month of September, but the pickup typically happens in the fourth quarter,” Mr. Mapa said in Filipino, noting the October results will show if hiring activity indeed picked up.

“There’s a substantial seasonality component during the fourth quarter,” he added.

For the first nine months, joblessness stood at 4.1%, a tad higher compared to the same period last year of 4%.

The other service activities industry posted the largest drop in employment annually, shedding 493,000 workers, followed by administrative and support service activities (-356,000), manufacturing (-302,000), transportation and storage (-233,000), and public administration and defense and compulsory social security (-220,000).

On a monthly basis, the other service activity industries lost 498,000 workers, followed by construction (-308,000), transportation and storage (-247,000), and financial and insurance activities (-105,000).

Explaining the almost half-amillion month-on-month drop in the other service activities sector, Mr. Mapa said this might be tied to household income.