Four million Filipinos were jobless in January 2021, compared to 2.4 million during the same month in 2020. It's a reflection of how much damage the pandemic has wrought on life in the country.
The unemployment rate in January was at 8.7%, steady from October 2020 (also at 8.7%), but higher than January 2020 (5.3%). During the quarantine, unemployment peaked at 17.6% in April 2020, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
On the reverse side, 41.2 million Filipinos were employed in January 2021, during which the employment rate stood at 91.3%, unchanged from October 2020, the PSA said. The January 2021 employment rate was lower than the 94.7% reported in January 2020.
The economy is in its deepest recession since World War II as COVID-19 shut businesses and forced companies to lay off workers. The nationwide quarantines will turn a year old in March. In 2021 alone, Shangri-La Makati and Topshop closed its doors in the Philippines.
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Filipinos with jobs were also working shorter hours. The underemployment rate in January 2021 rose to 16% of the total employed persons, which translates to 6.6 million people. An underemployed person is someone who can't work longer hours despite their desire to do so.
The underemployment rate was at 14.4% in October 2020 and 14.8% in January 2020, the PSA said.
On average, an employed person's work hours decreased in January 2021 to 39.3 hours from 41.3 hours in January 2020. This was lower than the 40.8 hours recorded in October.
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