The country’s unemployment rate dropped to its second lowest level in June after almost 20 years, yet underemployment persisted as the count of underemployed Filipinos rose to over 6 million.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday showed the unemployment rate eased to 3.1 percent in June, lower than the 4.1 percent rate in May and the 4.5 percent rate in June 2023.

The figure translated to 1.62 million unemployed Filipinos as of June 2024, lower than the 2.11 million jobless Pinoys in May 2024 and 2.33 million idle Filipinos in June 2023.

The PSA noted that the June figure was the second lowest unemployment rate since April 2005 and nearly matched the December 2023 figure of 3.07 percent or 1.60 million unemployed Pinoys.

In a press conference on Wednesday morning, PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said more workers joined the labor force, or those Filipinos 15 years old and over who were either employed or unemployed.

In June, the labor force consisted of 51.9 million workers, up from 50.97 million in May and 51.17 million in June of the previous year.

Agriculture and forestry experienced the largest decline year-over-year, losing 916,000 jobs, with over half of these — 545,000 — linked to rice planting. Mapa attributed this decline to a decrease in crop production, especially rice.

“We can see a significant reduction in the growth of our crops. It is particularly negative for our rice production. We can say that El Niño had a major impact,” Mapa said.

The PSA said the country recorded a 96.9-percent employment rate or 50.52 million employed Filipinos in June 2024, matching the figures of December 2023.

Compared to the previous year, there was an increase in the number of full-time workers (+3.1 million), wage and salaried employees (+2.0 million), and middle-skilled workers (+1.7 million).

Conversely, there were fewer part-time workers (-1.5 million) and those in vulnerable employment (-521,000).

Construction was the leading industry for jobs creation year-over-year, adding 939,000 new positions in June 2024. This raised the number of Filipinos employed in construction to 5.77 million, up from 4.83 million in June 2023.

“Economic activity related to construction substantially increased,” Mapa said, adding that nearly 900,000 of those jobs were related to the construction of buildings.

Other significant industries that saw substantial increases in employment year-over-year included wholesale and retail trade, including vehicle and motorcycle repair (+527,000); accommodations and food service (+396,000); manufacturing (+353,000); and transportation and storage (+323,000).

Mapa is optimistic about the progress in employment. He noted that many new entrants into the labor force found positions in the private sector, which he regarded as offering higher-quality jobs.

“Our expectation is that this will continue. Of course, there are threats, but so far the numbers that we’re seeing — particularly this June wherein we have a low unemployment rate despite the huge increase in our labor force participation rate — is positive,” Mapa said.