The unemployment rate in February was unchanged at 6.4 percent from the previous month, but even as the data pointed to more people seeking work, a key sector showed lesser jobs.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in its labor force survey Thursday the figure was equal to 3.13 million jobless workers.

"The permanent jobs in Jan. 2022 was at 30.98 million, but in Feb. 2022 it rose to 33.79 million," National Statistician Dennis Mapa said in a press conference.

Among sectors, which registered the largest net increase in employment are the agriculture and forestry (1.44 million); wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.07 million) and accommodation and food service activities (145,000).

But Mapa said the manufacturing sector shed 260,000 jobs. These were mostly in semiconductor devices and electronic components (61,000) and mens and boys garment manufacturing (32,000).

Mapa said they are trying to find out why manufacturing lost jobs.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendric Chua said declaring Alert Level 2 in the National Capital Region and other parts of the country last February ''allowed more Filipinos to rejoin the labor force.''

Acting Presidential Spokesperson Martin Andanar said the government is targeting to implement Alert Level 1 in the entire country soonest.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said other contributing factors to the jobs data was lifting of travel restrictions for foreign travelers, which helped boost the tourism sector and election-related spending for the May 2022 polls. DMS