Palace assures efforts being done to curb rising unemployment

MANILA, Philippines —  Malacañang has assured the public that the government is continuously working to improve the employment situation in the country after the latest unemployment rate surged to a four-year high of 6 percent in July, up from 4.9 percent in June.

Palace press officer and Undersecretary Claire Castro, in reference to a statement from Department of Economy, Planning, and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, said the unemployment rate can be addressed by improving the ease of doing business.

Castro explained that when investors can obtain the necessary requirements more quickly, it becomes easier for them to enter the country and hire Filipinos for their businesses.

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READ: Jobless rate rises to 4-year high of 6% in July

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“At patuloy pa rin po ang pagreporma sa National Education and Workforce Development Plan for 2026 to 2035, ito po ay ayon na rin sa ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] Mutual Recognition Arrangements for Qualification and Skills Certification,” Castro said.(And the government continues to reform the National Education and Workforce Development Plan for 2026 to 2035, in line with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Mutual Recognition Arrangements for Qualifications and Skills Certification.)

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the 6.0 percent is the highest unemployment rate recorded since June 2022, when it stood at 6.03 percent.

Citing the conflict in the Middle East, the Palace official said many overseas Filipino workers who lost their jobs and were repatriated have also contributed to the rise in unemployment.

Despite this, Castro said the Department of Labor and Employment  continues to hold nationwide monthly Trabaho Agad job fairs and strengthen placement networks such as Public Employment Service Offices.

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What the data says

The latest figure amounted to 3.14 million jobless Filipinos, up from 2.59 million the previous month.

Meanwhile, the employment rate eased to 94 percent from 95 percent, with the number of employed Filipinos falling to 49.21 million from 50.55 million.

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In addition, the labor force participation rate also fell to 63.6 percent from 65.1 percent, bringing the labor force to 52.36 million from 53.25 million.

For the number of underemployed Filipinos, the PSA said it rose to 12.9 percent from 12.1 percent as they sought additional work or longer hours to increase their income.

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This represented 6.33 million underemployed Filipinos, up from 6.11 million in June. /mr