Philippines unemployment falls to 7.5%: Govt

MANILA: Unemployment in the Philippines fell to 7.5 percent in April from 8.0 percent a year earlier, according to the latest jobs data released Tuesday.

The rate represented a drop from 7.7 percent in January, when the last figures from the quarterly National Statistics Office's labour force survey were released.

Underemployment, defined as those working under 40 hours a week, rose to 18.9 percent from 18.2 percent in January. The figure was down from 19.8 percent in April last year, the statistics bureau said.

The size of the labour force increased to 37.8 million.

The Labour Department recently said more than 16 million of the country's workforce were either "self-employed" or working in the "informal sector," which includes people working as pedicab drivers or in family-run shops.