Unemployment in the Philippines hit a four-year low of 6.4 percent in October, the government said Thursday.
In the year to October 2.1 million jobs were created, more than double the one million put into work in the previous 12 months, Economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga told reporters.
"Although labour entrants also increased to 1.9 million, an equally stronger employment generation resulted in a lower unemployment rate of 6.4 percent compared with the 7.1 percent unemployment rate in the same month of last year."
The government estimates the country's labour force at 41.2 million.
Limited employment opportunities have forced one in 10 Filipinos to seek work abroad. A quarter of the population live on a dollar a day or less, according to official data.
Meanwhile, the government said the quality of local jobs remained an issue, with just 61.8 percent of adults employed in full-time jobs, defined as those working at least 40 hours a week.
The rest held part-time employment, the National Statistics Office said in a statement.
The October underemployment rate also remained high at 19.1 percent, compared to 19.6 percent a year earlier.
It defined underemployed people as those holding jobs but who want to work longer hours in their present job, those wanting an extra job, or those who want a new job with longer working hours.
Unemployment data is released on a quarterly basis.
