MANILA -- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it will offer 216,144 jobs in its job fairs for Labor Day this year, with over 34,000 being overseas jobs. 

During the agency’s pre-Labor Day press conference on Monday, April 28, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said he hopes they can offer more jobs than they did in 2024, which was at around 235,000.

“Gusto ho namin mahigitan din ‘yung number ng mga vacancies noong nakaraang taon. At ‘yun nga— nadadagdagan— siguro tatlong araw pa bago mag-Labor Day. Mas dadami pa po ‘yung available na vacancies,” Laguesma said.

With 69 sites nationwide, 14 are located in the National Capital Region. More than 63,000 jobs up for grabs in the region.

Most of the job fairs will take place on May 1st. But some are scheduled for April 29 and 30, and May 2. 

SMX Convention Center will be the main venue of the job fair, starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. 

Majority of the fairs will be held in malls.

“Maswerte po kami na may mga ka-partner kami na ika nga’y kilalang mga malls dahil ‘di nabibilad sa araw o hindi na-e-expose sa mga elements ang mga jobseekers— ‘di pinapawisan,” Laguesma said. 

More Filipinos found jobs and found higher quality jobs in February a The unemployment rate in the Philippines fell to 3.8 percent in February, from 4.3 percent the month before.

Unemployment, underemployment rates dip in February

Meanwhile, the underemployment rate also dipped to 10.1 percent from 13.3 percent in January. 

A high underemployment rate is usually seen as an indicator that the jobs available are of low quality.