President Ferdinand 鈥淏ongbong鈥� Jr. Marcos delivers a speech for the 9th commemoration of Super Typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City on November 8. (Photo from Office of the Press Secretary鈥檚 Facebook account)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� President Ferdinand 鈥淏ongbong鈥� Marcos Jr. on Wednesday attributed the recent drop in the country鈥檚 unemployment rate to his administration鈥檚 efforts at job creation.
Marcos鈥� comments came after the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the unemployment rate in the Philippines stood at 5% in September this year, bringing the , which is 183,000 lower than the 2.68 million jobless Filipinos recorded in August.
鈥淓ver since we started with the economic team, even before I took office, we really concentrated on the creation of jobs,鈥� Marcos said in a statement.
鈥淎nd that鈥檚 why it is having the effect now of bringing down our employment rate,鈥� he added.
The number of jobless Filipinos recorded in September was also lower by 1.78 million from the 4.28 million logged in the same period in 2021, according to the PSA, which surveyed 10,959 families nationwide.
鈥淭his is a good sign. The economy is trying very hard to grow,鈥� Marcos said.
鈥淲e just have to be able to tolerate the shocks that are coming from abroad. But otherwise, the economy is moving in the right direction,鈥� he added.
While acknowledging that inflation remains worrisome, Marcos still expressed optimism that the country could sustain the positive momentum with the unemployment rate, noting that accelerating job generation has been among his administration鈥檚 top priorities.