The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) welcomed the results of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Labor Force Survey (LFS) for February 2023 saying it presents the current state of the labor market beyond the recovery stage and reflects the continuous improvement in the country’s employment situation.
The labor department in a statement issued yesterday said the February LFS highlights the increase in the number of Filipinos joining the labor force, with a participation rate of 66.6 percent or 51.27 million. Said figure, DOLE added, is 2.67 million higher than the labor force participation in the same period in the previous year, and 1.548 million above the reported labor force participation in the previous month.
DOLE reported that there is also a notable increase in the country’s employment rate by 1.6 percentage points or from 93.6 percent in February 2022 to 95.2 percent in February 2023. This translates to 48.8 million employed Filipinos.
The increase in employment according to DOLE may be attributed to employment expansion in wholesale and retail trade (repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles) (+701,000 or 6.96%); accommodation and food service activities (+580,000 or 34.8%); agriculture and forestry (+554,000 or 5.76%); other service activities (+362,000 or 13.83%); and fishing and aquaculture (+340,000 or 27.45%).
In terms of unemployment incidence, there is a notable decrease in the number of unemployed workers on a year-on-year comparison, from 6.4 percent in February 2022 to 4.8 percent in February 2023.
The same trend was observed in the youth unemployment rate which reported a decline of 5.2 percentage points or from 14.3 percent in February 2022 to 9.1 percent in February 2023.
Moreover, the underemployment rate eased by 1.1 percentage points, from 14% in February 2022 to 12.9% this year.
Amid this steady momentum, the labor department constantly aligns its initiatives, implementation, and policy directions with the national and sectoral plans while recognizing the current and emerging challenges in the labor market.
For instance, the Department has completed its series of regional consultations to finalize the Labor and Employment Plan 2023-2028, which is aligned with the President’s 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda.
The Department also continuously partners with the private sector and industry associations to deliver impactful workforce development opportunities that guarantee workforce competitiveness and employment preservation.
It is likewise prioritizing upskilling and reskilling of workers, especially the new entrants to the labor force, to increase their competitiveness and employability.
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