Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Unemployment eased in April, but a trend of "youth inactivity" is causing alarm among economic authorities.

According to the latest Labor Force Survey released on Thursday, only 6.1 percent of the workforce is unemployed -- that is, available to work and seeking work, but unable to find any.

It was an improvement from last April, when unemployment stood at 6.4 percent.

The country is on track to hit its target unemployment rate of 6.5 to 6.7 percent for the year, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Emmanuel Esguerra said in a statement.

"These employment numbers are a reflection of the country’s vibrant economy," he said.

The Philippines had one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia in the first quarter, beating even China. Gross domestic product jumped 6.9 percent -- a two-year high.

Looking for more

The services sector accounted for more than half of jobs in the country. Among the major employers were wholesale and retail trade, vehicle repair, and transportation and storage.

A quarter of employed persons worked in the agriculture sector.

Nearly a fifth worked in the industry sector, mainly in manufacturing and construction.

However, of those employed, 18.4 percent of them were considered underemployed, looking to work more hours or find additional jobs. This amounts to about 7.3 million people -- mostly from the services and agriculture sectors.

Esguerra urged the next administration to adopt policies and key reforms that could boost the economy and create even more jobs like improving the business climate and easing restrictions on foreign investments.

Also read: PH safe from global downturn - World Bank

Idle youth

The unemployment situation is more bleak for young Filipinos, aged 15 to 24 years. They account for half of the unemployed, the Labor Force Survey showed.

More worryingly, about 23.8 percent of the youth were neither in school nor at work in April. That is equivalent to about 4.7 million young Filipinos who were not receiving education or training, or working.

"From society's viewpoint, that's an underutilized resource," Esguerra said in a separate comment to CNN Philippines.

He explained that young Filipinos may not be actively seeking jobs because of the time and money it costs. They may also be finding it hard to get hired because they don't have the experience employers are looking for.

Related: Addressing youth unemployment, job-skills mismatch

Moreover, the skills the youth have may not match the jobs that are available. On the flip side, they could be overqualified and opting not to work instead of taking on jobs they do not like.

Esguerra said the government, business and educational institutions must improve coordination so that school curricula can be developed to better match the young workforce with job opportunities.

One in four of the jobless in April held a college degree, while one in three were high school graduates.