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Adult joblessness in the Philippines dropped by 4.2 percentage points in the second quarter of the year, from 23.9% in March to 19.7%, data from the Social Weather Station (SWS) showed.
In the SWS report released on Thursday, an estimated 8.6 million adults were considered jobless, defined as those who voluntary left work, retrenched, are seeking jobs for the first time, or are not seeking any work.
This is an improvement over the 10.9 million adults who were considered jobless as per the SWS survey released last March.
According to the survery, joblessness fell in the following key areas:
Balance Luzon and Visayas

  • Fell by 8.8 points in Balance Luzon, from 28.1% in March 2018 to 19.3% in June 2018
  • Fell by 2.5 points in the Visayas, from 21.6% in March to 19.0% in June
  • Minimal change in Metro Manila, up by 0.4 point from 19.0% in March to 19.4% in June
  • Minimal change in Mindanao, up by 0.4 point from 20.8% in March to 21.2% in June

Joblessness falls in rural areas

  • Fell by 8.5 points in overall rural areas, from 24.8% in March 2018 to 16.2% in June 2018
  • Minimal change in overall urban areas, up by 0.4 point from 22.8% in March to 23.2% in June

Joblessness falls among women

  • Fell by 7.8 points among women, from 33.9% in March 2018 to 26.1% in June 2018
  • Minimal change among men, declining by 0.5 point from 16.1% in March to 15.6% in June

Joblessness decreases among all age groups except among aged 25-34

  • Fell by 8.7 points among 18 to 24 year olds, from 53.1% in March 2018 to 44.4% in June 2018
  • Fell by 5.2 points among those 45 years old and above, from 17.4% in March to 12.2% in June
  • Fell by 1.6 points among 35 to 44 year olds, from 17.4% in March to 15.7% in June.
  • However, it rose by 2.5 points among 25 to 34 year olds, from 26.6% in March to 29.1% in June. It has been below 30% for four consecutive quarters.

The survey, conducted last June 27 to 30 and 1,200 respondents, also that overall optimism on job availability slid by 5% to +32. However, this is still considered to be “very high”, SWS said.

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