The number of unemployed Filipinos in the country continued to increase for the second straight month, at 4.0 percent in April from 3.9 percent in March.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the 4 percent rate translates to more than 2.04 million Filipinos unemployed in April.
This is 40,000 more than the 2 million in March but lower than the 2.26 million in April of last year.
The April rate, however, is lower than the 4.5 percent in the same month of 2023.
PSA said the ongoing effects of the El Niño phenomenon affected labor demand, especially in the agricultural sector.
Meanwhile, the number of employed Filipinos decreased slightly to 96% in April, which is equivalent to 48.36 million.
This is slightly lower than the 96.1% unemployed in March, or 49.15 million Filipinos with jobs.
The services sector, meanwhile, continued to dominate the labor market in April in terms of the number of employed persons, with a share of 61.4 percent.
The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in April was 64.1 percent, lower than March's 65.3 percent and April 2023's 65.1 percent.
