MANILA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The unemployment rate in the Philippines rose to 3.9 percent in October from 3.7 percent in September, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday.
PSA head Dennis Mapa told a press conference that an estimated 1.97 million Filipinos were out of work in October this year, fewer than the 2.09 million recorded in October 2023.
National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government remained committed to generating high-quality employment for Filipinos.
Balisacan noted that the underemployment rate experienced a slight uptick, increasing to 12.6 percent in October this year from 11.7 percent in the same month last year.
The PSA defined underemployment as workers who have jobs but continue to look for extra jobs or job hours.
In terms of magnitude, 6.08 million of 48.16 million employed individuals expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work in October, according to the PSA. ■
