About 30,000 more Filipinos were added to the ranks of those without jobs in June, but the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.7 percent.

This, as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday that the number of Filipinos without work now stands at 3.76 million.

However, while the 3.76 million was only 30,000 more from the 3.73 million Filipinos without jobs in May, the PSA said the unemployment rate remained the same as the country’s work force population expanded in June.

PSA head Dennis Mapa the labor force population represents the Filipinos aged 15 and above who were active in the labor market, and this increased to 48.84 million in June. In May, the country’s labor force stood at 48.45 million.

Mapa said that strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was imposed in National Capital Region (NCR) Plus last April resulted in 4.14 million Fipinos having no work, pushing the unemployment rate to 8.7 percent.

The country’s economic managers, for their part, said job creation in the NCR was difficult with the strict quarantine restrictions.

“With the emergence of the Covid-19 Delta variant, the government has prioritized arresting the spread of this more contagious virus through more proactive quarantines in high-risk areas and an accelerated vaccination program. These actions are crucial in ensuring that economic gains in recent months will resume once we have addressed this current threat,” the country’s economic managers said a joint statement.