QUEZON CITY, (PIA) --The country’s employment rate in June 2023 was 95.5 percent, higher than the reported 94.0 percent in the same month last year, according to the report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Wednesday, (August 9).
The PSA report said, this translates to 48.84 million employed individuals in June 2023, up from 46.59 million in June 2022.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in June 2023 was 4.5 percent, which is lower than the 6.0 percent recorded in June of the previous year. Thus, the number of unemployed persons in June 2023 dropped from 2.99 million in June 2022 to 2.33 million.
Notably, the employment rate among the youth was estimated at 90.1 percent or 6.45 million, which is higher than the 88.2 percent in June 2022. Youth employment refers to individuals between the ages 15 and 24 who are part of the labor force and are employed.
In line with this, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reaffirms the government’s commitment to labor upskilling in order to improve employability and maximize the benefits of the country’s demographic dividend.
“As the number of young workers continues to expand, the Marcos administration is exerting efforts to focus on training and upskilling to improve their employability for high-quality and high-paying jobs,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, in a statement said.
Chapter 4 of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 outlines recommendations for equipping the young Philippine workforce with the necessary skills to enhance the income-earning potential of Filipino workers.
Moreover, it indicates that promoting further investments in technical and vocational education and training centers, digitalization, and innovation facilities is crucial for improving the skills and competitiveness of the Philippine workforce.
Balisacan said that this is critical, considering the entry of new and disruptive technologies.
“Modernizing training and vocational education facilities, as well as enhancing educational qualifications, competencies, and skills, are necessary to respond to the emergence of new demands for competencies and skills. These demands are a result of economic and technological transformations brought by emerging technologies in the market, such as artificial intelligence,” Balisacan said. (neda/pia-ncr)
