Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto underscored that the Philippines’ unemployment rate dropped to 3.7% in September as the country sets the stage to fully harness its demographic sweet spot—the greatest asset to fuel long-term economic growth.

“With the most favorable demographics in ASEAN, the Philippines is at a golden moment, and we are committed to making the most of it. Kaya napakagandang balita na mas gumanda ang ating labor market. This is a sign that we are harnessing our competitive advantage by providing more economic opportunities for our people,” the Finance Chief said.

“And we will continue to do so by creating more quality jobs for Filipinos. Dahil kapag mas marami ang may trabaho, mas lalaki ang kita ng bawat Pilipino. Mas may kakayahan ang bawat isa na mag-ipon, mag-invest, at gumastos. Mas lalong lalago ang ekonomiya,” he added.

At present, the Philippines’ median age stands at only 25 years old, the lowest among ASEAN-6.

An HSBC study revealed that the Philippines’ share of the working-age population is projected to grow by as much as 15% from 2025 to 2035, the fastest in the region.

“The world is taking notice of the immense potential of Filipino talent. In our recent economic briefings abroad, investors have shown bullishness in our young, skilled, and English-proficient workforce. This is something that they value with high regard, placing us firmly on their radar,” Secretary Recto stressed.

The country’s demographic dividend is expected to boost its GDP per capita. This will not only drive up demand for consumer goods but also boost investments, as households gain the ability to allocate more funds toward savings and investment.

In September 2024, the Philippines’ labor market remained strong with the unemployment rate dropping to 3.7% from 4.0% in the previous month and 4.5% from September 2023.

Moreover, the country’s underemployment rate stood relatively low at 11.9%.

With this, the total number of Filipinos employed rose to 49.87 million in September 2024, higher than the 49.15 million last month and 47.67 million in September last year.

This translates to an additional 2.2 million Filipinos with jobs compared to September 2023.

“By and large, more and more women and youth are entering the labor force. This bodes well for our economic outlook as more Filipinos see increasing job opportunities. As the holiday season approaches, we expect more employment available in retail trade as well as accommodation and food services,” the Finance Chief said.

About 883,000 new entrants were recorded for the month, of which 802,000 or 90.8% of new employees are youth. This led to the youth employment rate increasing to 90%, from 88% last month and 86.9% in September 2023.

In addition, there are 1.34 million employed female workers due to decreasing barriers to women’s access to the labor market. More than half of them are wage and salary workers.

The services sector continued to dominate the labor market, making up 62.8% of the total employed persons in September 2024. This was followed by agriculture (19.9% share) and industry (17.4% share) in employment.

The administrative and support service activities sectors were the biggest employment drivers for the month, adding 735,000 more workers to the labor force compared to the previous year.

Other sectors that posted additional jobs included other service activities (559,000); wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (486,000); public administration and defense, and compulsory social security (333,000); and manufacturing (200,000).

Wage and salary workers also continued to make up the largest share of employed persons in the country at 63.9% in September 2024. This was due to the increase in individuals hired in managerial posts and professional services.

In particular, 76.6% of wage and salary workers were employed by private establishments, while only 14.9% were employed by the government.

To further improve the country’s labor situation, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is now finalizing the Trabaho Para sa Bayan (TPB), which is the government’s 10-year master plan for employment generation.

The plan aims to cement linkages among industry, the academe, and the government to address skills mismatch and improve the competitiveness of the Filipino workforce.

Alongside the TPB, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) recently launched its national blueprint for the technical vocational education and training sector with a focus on preparing Filipinos for future job markets.

The TESDA and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are currently promoting the “Green Skills for Green Jobs” program to supply highly technical workforce needed such as project managers, engineers, and environmentalists in the renewable energy sector.

The government will also ensure the swift implementation of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) roadmap and strategy to cultivate a new generation of research scientists, engineers, as well as research and development innovators.

Moreover, the accelerated implementation of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Code will deliver infrastructure projects that enhance both the country’s physical and intellectual assets and create more quality jobs in high-impact sectors.

Meanwhile, the much-anticipated enactment of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) bill is expected to attract more capital-intensive investments into the country and generate jobs and higher value-added sectors.