Unemployment rises to 4.1%, underemployment up to 14.6% in April

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Friday that unemployment rose to 4.1 percent in April, up from 3.9 percent in March.

Unemployment increased to 2.06 million workers in April, a rise from the 1.93 million recorded in March, while underemployment climbed to 14.6 percent, reflecting an overall increase of 7.09 million employed Filipinos seeking additional work or working hours.

Despite the slight uptick in unemployment and underemployment, employment rates saw an increase with 48.67 million employed Filipinos in April, up from 48.35 million in March, but job quality hit its worst level since February 2023 due to the impact of election expenditures.

PSA Undersecretary Dennis Mapa noted that while more people joined the workforce, not all were absorbed into employed positions, leading to higher unemployment rates, and labor economist Leonardo Lanzona warned that the government needs to implement effective high productivity jobs policies or undertake massive training programs to address disruptions from digital transformation, climate change, and global value chain movements.

The Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev) vowed to foster a conducive environment for sustainable businesses through measures aimed at improving domestic industry productivity and attracting more investments to generate higher-quality and better-paying jobs.