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On the other hand, the unemployment rate dropped to 4% in August 2024, down from 4.7% in July 2024 and 4.4% in August 2023.
The Philippine Statistics Authority released the Philippines' August 2024 Labour Force Survey on 8 October 2024 (Tuesday).
According to the data, in August 2024, the country’s employment rate reached 96%, marking an improvement from 95.6% in August 2023 and 95.3% in July 2024. This translates to an estimated 49.15mn employed individuals in August 2024, higher than the 48.07mn employed persons from the year before and the 47.70mn recorded in July 2024.
On the unemployment front, the unemployment rate dropped to 4% in August 2024, down from 4.7% in July 2024 and 4.4% in August 2023. In terms of magnitude, the number of unemployed individuals decreased to 2.07mn, down from 2.22mn in August 2023 and 2.38mn in July 2024.
The labour force participation rate (LFPR) in August 2024 increased slightly to 64.8%, up from 64.7% in August 2023 and 63.5% in July 2024. This means that 51.22mn Filipinos aged 15 and over were part of the labour force, compared to 50.29mn in August 2023 and 50.07mn in July 2024.
On average, employed persons worked 40.7 hours per week in August 2024, a slight decrease from the 40.8 hours in August 2023 and 41.1 hours in July 2024.
In addition, underemployment rate also improved, decreasing to 11.2% in August 2024 from 11.7% in August 2023 and 12.1% in July 2024. In terms of magnitude, 5.48mn of the 49.15mn employed individuals sought additional hours or a new job with longer hours in August 2024.
Employment according to sector
In August 2024, the services sector remained the largest employer, with 63.3% of the 49.15mn employed persons. Agriculture made up 19.3%, and the industry sector accounted for 17.4%.
Top 5 sectors with the biggest increase in employed persons (August 2024 vs. August 2023):
- Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (+1.13mn)
- Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (+678,000)
- Accommodation and food service activities (+537,000)
- Other service activities (+380,000)
- Transportation and storage (+342,000)
Top 5 sectors with the biggest decrease in employed persons (August 2024 vs. August 2023):
- Agriculture and forestry (-1.68 million)
- Fishing and aquaculture (-628,000)
- Manufacturing (-306,000)
- Construction (-62,000)
- Professional, scientific, and technical activities (-31,000)
Month-on-month changes (August 2024 vs. July 2024):
Largest increases in employment:
- Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (+1.15mn)
- Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (+351,000)
- Education (+209,000)
- Transportation and storage (+207,000)
- Other service activities (+172,000)
Largest decreases in employment:
- Agriculture and forestry (-352,000)
- Fishing and aquaculture (-278,000)
- Financial and insurance activities (-130,000)
- Manufacturing (-53,000)
- Accommodation and food service activities (-39,000)
Wage and salary workers:
In August 2024, wage and salary workers made up the largest share of employed persons at 62.4%. This was followed by self-employed individuals without paid employees (28.3%) and unpaid family workers (6.9%). Employers running their own family-operated businesses had the smallest share, at 2.5%.
Among wage workers:
Among wage and salary workers, those employed in private establishments remained to have the highest share of 76.4% of the wage and salary workers or 47.7% of the total employed. This was followed by those employed in government or government-controlled corporations with a share of 16.2% of the wage and salary workers or 10.1% of the total employed.
Youth labour force participation:
The youth labour force participation rate (LFPR) dropped to 33.2% in August 2024, from 34.9% in August 2023 and 34.2% in July 2024. The youth employment rate increased to 88.0%, up from 87.7% in August 2023 and 85.2% in July 2024.
READ MORE: Philippines records annual growth in employment rate in June 2024
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