MANILA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The unemployment rate in the Philippines decreased to 3.1 percent in December 2023, the lowest since 2005, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday.
"The full-year unemployment rate for 2023 was 4.3 percent compared to 5.4 percent in 2022," PSA head Dennis Mapa said at a press conference.
Mapa said about 1.60 million were jobless in December last year. "This was lower than the reported number of unemployed persons in December 2022 of 2.22 million and in November 2023 of 1.83 million," Mapa added.
National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the country's labor market "remains robust, with the lowest unemployment rate in nearly two decades."
"We welcome the news of a record-low unemployment rate signifying the economy's sustained momentum and resiliency," he said, adding the government will ramp up "social and physical infrastructure investments and dramatically improve human capital to strengthen the employment prospects." ■
