PH labor force grows, inflation drop to spur job growth

The Philippine labor market continues to show resilience, with employment levels surpassing pre-pandemic figures, driven largely by the wholesale and retail trade sectors.

Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto attributed the growth to the declining inflation rate, which he said would further stimulate jobs through increased consumer spending.

“The continuous decline in the country’s inflation rate will benefit businesses, especially those in the wholesale and retail sectors, as this means our people will have more money to spend on non-essential items,” Recto said.

He also noted that the agriculture sector is recovering from the effects of El Niño, adding 936,000 workers in July 2024 alone.

In July 2024, the wholesale and retail trade sectors added 1.07 million jobs, becoming the biggest contributors to the labor market.

The growth helped drive the unemployment rate down to 4.7%, compared to 4.9% in July 2023 and 5.1% in 2019 before the pandemic.

Recto highlighted that the underemployment rate also fell to 12.1%, a significant improvement from 15.9% in July 2023, showing that job quality is improving across the country.

Wage and salary workers now account for 63.8% of the workforce, indicating the rise of a stable middle class.

“This means that for every six jobs in the private sector, there is only one job in government. This shows that private businesses are the backbone of our labor market,” Recto said.

He pointed to the easing of monetary policy and the acceleration of investment-driven laws such as the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Code and amendments to the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act as key factors in boosting the country’s attractiveness to investments and driving job creation.

The government’s Build Better More infrastructure program is also expected to generate jobs for both construction workers and highly skilled professionals like engineers and architects.

Recto emphasized that the government remains committed to investing in human capital development to prepare Filipinos for high-quality jobs and further support economic growth.