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MANILA (UPDATE) - The Philippines' unemployment rate was steady in February while underemployment eased, the state statistics bureau said on Tuesday.

The Philippine Statistics Authority said the jobless rate was 4.8 percent, which meant that there were 2.47 million Filipino workers who were unemployed. This was the same rate compared to January's 4.8 percent, equivalent to 2.37 million.

Meanwhile, the underemployment rate improved to 12.9 percent or 6.29 million, from January's 14.1 percent equivalent to 6.65 million, the PSA said.

“The most recent data on the country’s workforce suggests that the Philippine labor market is steadily recovering. The lifting of various restrictions that previously impeded employment opportunities has resulted in an increase in job prospects for Filipino workers,” National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

Employment rate in February was also steady at 95.2 percent compared to the previous month, or equivalent to 48.40 million and 47.35 million, respectively, data showed.

The slight improvement in the number of employed persons is seen to continue as the economy further recovers, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said.

Labor force participation, meanwhile, continued to increase to 66.6 percent in February or 51.27 million compared to 64.5 percent or 49.72 million in January, the PSA said.

"Since July 2022, continuous tumataas ang labor force participation rate. It's back to pre-pandemic levels," Mapa said.

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Meanwhile, Labor Asec. Paul Vincent Anover of the employment and human resource development cluster said that 3.3 million workers were hired between Feb. 2022 and Feb. 2023.

He said that while there are still a lot of reasons behind unemployment of many Filipinos, jobs are also increasing.

He said the Department of Labor and Employment is coordinating with the Department of Tourism to help those who lost their jobs during the pandemic.

Anover claimed that business pledges by countries in which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr's had state visits have resulted in 150,000 jobs.

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