MANILA (UPDATE) - The Philippines' unemployment rate fell while underemployment rose slightly in June this year, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Wednesday.

The PSA said the jobless rate was at 3.1 percent in June, which was lower than the 4.1 percent rate seen in May, and the 4.5 percent rarte seen in June last year. This meant that 1.62 million Filipino workers were jobless, which was 486,000 fewer than in May and 707,000 fewer than in June last year.

National Statisticia n and PSA undersecretary Dennis Mapa said the underemployment rate meanwhile rose to 12.1 percent in June, from 9.9 percent in May, and 12 percent in June last year. This meant that 6.08 million Filipino workers were looking for extra hours of work, or searching for extra jobs to augment their income, which was 1.27 million more than in May.

Mapa said the higher underemployment figure in June was due to the higher number of workers who joined the labor force. There were 51.9 million workers in the labor force in June, which was higher than the 50.97 million in May, and 51.17 million in June last year.

"At dahil dito ay tumaas yung ating employed persons. In fact year-on-year tumaas yung ating employed persons ng 1.44 million, which is quite substantial."

(And because of this, the number of our employed persons increased. In fact, year-on-year, the number of employed persons climbed by 1.44 million, which is quite substantial.)

"Ang nangyayaari, dahil lumaki yung na-absorb ng ating labor market, hindi lahat ay ngakaroon ng parang tinatawag natin na full-time jobs.  

(What happens is that because our labor market absorbed more workers, not all of them got full-time jobs.)

The PSA said the sub-sectors which added the most jobs on an annual basis were in: 

a.   Construction (938,000)

b.  Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (527,000 )

c.  Accommodation and food service activities (396,000 )

d.  Manufacturing (353,000 )

e. Transportation and storage (323,000 )

Mapa said the increase in construction jobs, which mostly went to the construction of buildings, was also significant. Manufacturing also added more jobs. He said many of the jobs created were in the private sector, which were also salaried workers. The National Economic and Development Authority also said the higher number of jobs in construction and manufacturing were significant.

“The government’s swift implementation of infrastructure projects and the continued improvement of operating conditions for manufacturing firms have led to these employment gains. Increasing investments in renewable energy, water supply, and mining and quarrying have also supported employment growth in these areas,” said NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan. 

Meanwhile the sub-sectors which saw the highest job losses were:

a.  Agriculture and forestry (-916,000 )

b.  Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (-340,000 )

c.  Fishing and aquaculture (-81,000)

d.  Education (-71,000 )

e.  Financial and insurance activities (-42,000)

Despite this, NEDA said the labor market’s continued improvement can be seen in the increase in the number of full-time (+3.1 million), wage and salaried (+2.0 million), and middle-skilled (+1.7 million) workers.

“To sustain these gains, we will persist in improving the country’s business climate to attract investments that generate higher-quality jobs. The government will address bottlenecks and expedite processes to fulfill investment pledges and reap the benefits of liberalization reforms,” said Balisacan.

The NEDA chief further added that the government will continue to enhance productivity by enabling the adoption of emerging technologies and equipping the workforce through upskilling and reskilling.