MANILA: The Philippines’ unemployment rate jumped to 3.9 per cent in March, from 3.5 per cent in February, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday (May 8).
That means there were two million Filipinos who were either jobless or out of business in March, up from 1.8 million in the preceding month, results of a nationwide survey of 11,114 households showed.
The rise in jobless rate coincided with an increase in the number of the country’s labour force to 51.5 million, from 50.75 previously. That translated to a labour force participation rate of 65.3 per cent in March, up from 64.8 per cent in February.
Meanwhile, job quality improved after the underemployment rate eased to 11 per cent in March, from 12.4 per cent previously. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
