The number of employed persons in January 2010 rose by 5 percent to 36 million, compared to 34.3 million in January 2009.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) said the current employment rate is at 92.7 percent, which is slightly higher than last year at 92.3 percent.

The jobless rate in the Philippines rose in January from October as the economy failed to generate enough jobs for a growing workforce, the NSO said.

The jobless rate rose to 7.3% from 7.1% in October, though it was lower than the 7.7% posted in January last year.

The labor force survey, conducted at the start of every quarter, showed that the actual number of unemployed was 2.83 million, rising from 2.72 million in October, as the country's workforce grew to 60.2 million from 59.7 million in October.

Across regions, Cagayan Valley and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) posted the highest employment rate at 97.0 and 96.0 percent, respectively, and lowest in the National Capital  Region (NCR) at 89.2 percent.

Out of the estimated 60.2 million population 15 years old and over in January 2010, around 38.8 million persons were reported to be in the labor force. This figure placed the January 2010 labor force participation rate (LFPR) at 64.5 percent, increasing by 1.2 percentage points from last year's estimate of 63.3 percent.

Among the regions, Northern Mindanao registered the highest labor force participation rate at 70.2 percent while the lowest LFPR was posted in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) at 59.2 percent.