President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday said his administration would push for more economic activities in the country to create more jobs for Filipinos.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, Marcos expressed elation over the lower unemployment rate reported in May this year.

“Nakakatuwa naman at dahan-dahan ay umaakyat ‘yung numero ng employed dito sa Pilipinas (I am elated because the number of employed Filipinos in the Philippines is gradually increasing),” he said.

The country’s unemployment rate further dropped to 4.3 percent in May this year from 6 percent a year ago, according to the May 2023 Labor Force survey released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier Friday.

The PSA also reported that the unemployment rate was also lower than 4.5 percent registered in April this year.

The latest unemployment rate figure is equivalent to 2.17 million unemployed Filipinos, down from May 2022’s 2.93 million and from April 2023’s 2.26 million.

Marcos ensured that job generation is among his administration’s priorities.

“Kaya kailangan magkaroon ng economic activity para magkaroon ng trabaho ang ating mga kababayan (There should be more economic activities to generate more jobs for our countrymen),” he said.

Marcos, however, acknowledged that more needs to be done to provide Filipinos with better jobs and make the Philippines a “more investor-friendly place.”

“The bureaucracy, the economy are complicated systems that need time to adjust to the initiatives that we have introduced in terms of policy, in terms of digitalization, in terms of the new skills and processes that we want to adopt for the issues that have been raised,” he said.

“Marami namang local ang gusto mag-invest. Ayusin lang daw natin muna ang patakbo ng mga departamento, yung ease of doing business na lagi ating nababanggit (There are many local investors who want to invest. They just to streamline the departments’ processes and the ease of doing business that we always mention),” Marcos added.

The employment rate in May also went up to 95.7 percent from 94 percent in the same month last year and the 95.5 percent recorded in April this year.

The number of employed Filipinos in May was at 48.26 million, higher than the 46.08 million reported in the same period last year. (PNA)