MANILA -- The unemployment and underemployment rates in the Philippines climbed in January, the state statistics bureau said Thursday.

The Philippine Statistics Authority said unemployment was at 4.3 percent in the first month of the year, from 3.1 percent in December. There were 2.16 million unemployed Filipinos in January, up from the 1.63 million seen in December. January saw 50.65 million Filipinos in the labor force.   

PSA Assistant Secretary Divina Gracia del Prado said the increase in unemployment may be attributed to seasonality. 

“Siguro mairelate natin ito sa Christmas season. Kasi December of course we expect higher demand for workers. So mas mataas yung ating employment rate and the number of employed,” she said. 

“And then suddenly sa January bumaba na kasi wala nang demand. I mean, hindi wala kundi na-lessen na yung demand for workers,” she explained. 

Meanwhile, the underemployment rate also climbed to 13.3 percent from 10.9 percent in December. The PSA defines underemployment as workers who already have jobs but are looking for extra jobs or job hours. A high underemployment rate is usually seen as an indicator that the jobs available are of low quality.  

Year-on-year, the agriculture sector added the most number of jobs at 883,000, followed by wholesale and retail trade and the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles at 850,000. 

Del Prado said the number of jobs increased in the agriculture sector because planting season has started. 

“Ang nakita namin sa survey ay yung growing of paddy rice na may dagdag na 345,000. This is true because yung peak talaga nung harvest ng harvest ng palay, ng rice is at the 4th quarter,” the official said. 

“So they will start planting now sa quarter 1, January kasi para magkaroon ulit tayo ng iha-harvest,” she explained. 

Accommodation and food service activities (533,000), transportation and storage (141,000), and administrative and support service activities (136,000) wrapped up the list of top 5 industries that added the most number of jobs. 

Meanwhile, manufacturing saw the largest annual drop in job numbers at 209,000. Del Prado said there are fewer manufacturing jobs because of weaker global demand. 

“So parang bawasan ang demand globally, so hindi na sila masyadong nama-manufacture because of the demand at the world market na bumaba,” she said. 

The official said there were 44,000 fewer jobs manufacturing of consumer electronics, and 35,000 fewer jobs in the manufacture of electronic valves & tubes. 

The number jobs in the manufacturing of bakery products also fell by 27,000, she said. 

The services sector remained the top source of jobs with 61.6 percent of the total employed persons in January, the PSA said. The agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 21.1 percent and 17.2 percent of the employed persons, respectively.  

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan government will continue to work to give more Filipinos quality jobs. 

“Our strategy remains clear: to sustain job creation by fostering a dynamic and investment-friendly economy while preparing our workforce for high-growth and emerging industries that offer…well-paying jobs," he said.