As the country’s labor market improves, the Marcos Administration remains steadfast in reducing poverty to single-digit levels by creating more high-quality jobs for Filipinos and fostering a resilient workforce, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).  

The results of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s March 2024 Labor Force Survey, that revealed encouraging trends. 

The unemployment rate has dropped to 3.9% from 4.7% in the same month last year. This development translates to 417,000 fewer unemployed individuals.  

Several sectors have significantly contributed to employment gains. In March 2024, the wholesale and retail trade sector saw the highest annual increase, employing 963,000 additional individuals. Manufacturing followed closely with 553,000 new jobs, while public administration and defense added 229,000 employed individuals.  

Additionally, the country’s underemployment rate has declined to 11.0 percent in March 2024, compared to 11.2 percent in March 2023. 

“We will continue to prioritize creating high-quality and well-paying jobs to address the rising issues of vulnerable employment. We will focus on attracting job-generating investments from the private sector and scaling up social and physical infrastructure to improve our people’s employment prospects to achieve this goal. These will be accompanied by reskilling and upskilling programs to increase employability,” said NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.