Manila, Philippines — The Philippine Statistics Authority reported a slight increase in the country’s employment rate, at 95.3% in April from the flat 95% in March.
Despite the progress, a significant increase in the underemployment rate was also reported, at 15.2% in April.
The underemployment rate reflects the number of employed Filipinos wanting additional jobs or work hours.
This is the matter that newly appointed Department of Labor and Employment Acting Secretary Francis Tolentino wants to address, in team up with other national agencies.
With less than a month in the post, Tolentino oversaw the nationwide launching of the Trabaho Agad Job Fairs 2026 on June 11 and 12.
The job fairs were simultaneously launched in 61 sites nationwide aimed at bringing job opportunities to Filipino applicants.
There were 200,077 vacancies in both the local and overseas market, participated by over 1,600 employers.
Moreover, 4,476 applicants were hired on the spot, the largest from the National Capital Region.
For Tolentino, however, the issue of employability is not a DOLE concern alone.
He noted that while the government continues its efforts to bring jobs closer to Filipinos, there are still other factors that need to be considered to address employment concerns.
With this, DOLE is looking into strengthening its coordination with other agencies to find more solutions.
This includes issues of job mismatch, with Tolentino saying that this is also a matter of education.—Mia Layaguin, Eurotv News