MANILA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent in August from 6 percent in July, according to the country's statistics authority on Wednesday.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said about 2.77 million Filipinos were unemployed in August, down from 3.14 million in July.
According to PSA, the decline in unemployment was driven by the labor market absorbing more new entrants, partly reflecting the seasonal influx of graduates.
However, the August unemployment rate remained higher than the 3.9 percent recorded in the same period last year, with about 2.03 million jobless Filipinos, PSA said.
Services remained the largest source of jobs, accounting for 61.7 percent of total employment, followed by agriculture at 20.9 percent and industry at 17.3 percent. ■