NEARLY four million Filipinos were still considered jobless at the end of 2021, according to the latest full-year employment data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The preliminary full-year estimates of the PSA showed the country’s unemployment rate was at 7.8 percent at the end of last year. Unemployment rates in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region 4A or Calabarzon were still in double-digits at 10.6 percent.
This was followed by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) at 9.2 percent; Region 5 or the Bicol Region and Region 1 or the Ilocos Region, 8.2 percent; and Region 4B or Mimaropa, 7.9 percent.
“Of the total 47.7 million economically active population 15 years old and over, 3.71 million were unemployed, which resulted in the country’s unemployment rate at 7.8 percent in 2021,” PSA said.
PSA said in 2021, Olongapo City had the highest unemployment rate at 14.4 percent, accounting for 14,670 unemployed persons out of 101,880 persons in the labor force in the city.
This was followed by Camarines Norte, with an unemployment rate of 14.1 percent and represented 33,000 unemployed Bicolanos.
Other cities and provinces with high unemployment rates were Taguig City and Lanao del Sur at 12.4 percent; Isabela City, 12 percent; Cavite, 11.9 percent; and Caloocan, 11.3 percent.
“Compared to 2020 provincial unemployment estimates, there were no provinces or HUCs with an unemployment rate greater than 16 percent in 2021,” PSA said.
“It is also worth mentioning that there is an observed increase in the number of provinces and HUCs with unemployment rates lower than 5 percent,” it added.
In 2021, the total number of employed persons was accounted for at 43.99 million. This accounted for 92.2 percent of Filipinos who are at work or with jobs out of 47.7 million Filipinos in the labor force.
Among the regions, Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) had the highest employment rate at 96 percent followed by Mimaropa at 92.1 percent; Region 1 or the Ilocos Region, 91.8 percent; and Region 5 or the Bicol Region, 91.8 percent.
Other regions such as Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) had an employment rate of 90.8 percent; Region 4A or Calabarzon, 89.4 percent; and NCR at 89.4 percent.
These were the provinces and cities that registered employment rates lower than the national estimate at 92.2 percent.