Unemployment rate down, indicating gradual economic recovery for the Philippines

On Thursday, December 3, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the rate of unemployment decreased to 8.7% in October—providing an indication of economic recovery from the unemployment highs of 17.7% in April and 10% in July.

800,000 jobs were brought back into the labor market in October per the report from the PSA.

“This improvement in the unemployment rate was driven by the reopening of the economy and it could have been lower if the economy were opened further, coupled with the provision of safe and sufficient public transport,” said Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua.

Further, Chua noted that the recent typhoons in October resulted in significant employment loss for the agriculture sector.

PSA data indicated that job losses in agriculture from July to October reached 1.1 million, or 70A% of the 1.5 million jobs lost between those months.

300,000 jobs in the services sector returned as a result of further easing of quarantine restrictions and the safe and gradual reopening of more business establishments and activities.

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