Philippines: October jobless rate inches up to 3.9% due to multiple typhoons

Slowing market: People walk past shops along a street in Manila. Statistics show that fewer people were seeking work even as the unemployment numbers rose. — AFP

MANILA: The number of jobless Filipinos swelled in October while job quality worsened, coinciding with the decline in the number of jobseekers who were discouraged by the onslaught of powerful typhoons.

Results of a nationwide survey of 44,388 households showed there were 1.97 million people who were either unemployed or out of business in October, worse than the 1.89 million recorded in September, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported last Friday.