The jobless rate has gone down for the second straight quarter to 19.7 percent, equivalent to 9.4 million adults, the first quarter survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said Tuesday.

The survey, which was done on March 28-31, is lower than the December 2018 poll where a jobless rate of 21.1 percent, equivalent to nine million adults, was reported.

The 19.7 percent who were jobless in March consisted of 9.4 percent (estimated 4.5 million adults) who left their jobs, 7.6 percent (around 3.6 million adults) retrenched, and 2.7 percent (around 1.3 million adults) first-time job seekers.

The March survey found that the adult labor force participation rate is at 71.4 percent or an estimated 47.6 million adults. This is 5.2 points above the 66.2 percent or an estimated 42.4 million adults in December 2018.

The 47.6 million adult labor force consists of 58.1 percent (around 27.7 million adults) males and 41.9 percent (estimated 20.0 million adults) females.

In Metro Manila, there was a six-point decrease in adult joblessness, from 27 percent (est. 1.7 million adults) in December 2018 to 21 percent in March. DMS