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THE RANK of unemployed Filipinos reached 4.2 million in February, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported this morning.
Preliminary results from the PSA February 2021 Labor Force Survey (EPA) round showed around 4.187 million Filipinos unemployed, up from 3.953 million from the January EPA round.
This puts the unemployment rate at 8.8% in February, compared to 8.7% in January.
The February reading was the third highest since the unemployment rates recorded in April 2020 and July 2020 at 17.6% and 10%, respectively.
Likewise, the underemployment rate – the proportion of those already working – but still looking for more work or more hours of work, worsened to 18.2% in February from 16% in January. This translates to 7.85 billion underemployed Filipinos, up from 6.589 million in the previous survey round.
The size of the workforce was approximately 47.341 million in February, up from 45.201 million in January. This brought the labor force participation rate (LFPR) to 63.5% in February from 60.5% previously. This was the highest LFPR reported since April 2020, according to the PSA.
The employment rate, the ratio of employees to the total workforce, stood at 91.2% in February, down from 91.3% in January. However, in absolute terms, the number of Filipinos employed increased to 43,153 million from 41,248 million in January.
The employment rate in the service sector increased to 58.4% in February from 57.2% the previous month. On the other hand, those of agriculture and industry fell to 23.9% and 17.7%, respectively, from 24.4% and 18.4%.
The February LFS round marked the first of the monthly surveys the PSA will conduct to closely monitor the current employment situation in the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. In previous years, employment data was compiled and published on a quarterly basis. – Lourdes O. Pilar
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