Skip to main content
Release Date :
Reference Number :
2016-157

Sixty three percent of the population 15 years old and over are in the labor force

 
Of the estimated  68.2 million population 15 years old and over in April 2016, the number of persons who were in the labor force was reported at 43.3 million. This placed the labor force participation rate (LFPR) at 63.5 percent, which means that six in ten of the population aged 15 years and over were either employed or unemployed. The lowest LFPR reported was in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 50.6 percent (Table 1).
 
 

Employment rate reaches 93.9 percent in April 2016

 
The   total   number   of    employed   persons   was   estimated   at   40.7 million  in   April  2016.  The   employment   rate reported   or   the   proportion of   employed  persons to total labor force was 93.9 percent (Table 1).
 
Five   among   the   17 regions   registered   an   employment   rate lower than the national figure.  These are Ilocos Region (92.5%), CALABARZON (92.5%), NCR (92.7%), Central Luzon (93.0%), and Western Visayas (93.5%) (Table 1 and Figure 2).   
 
 

Employed males are more than employed females

 
Sixty-one percent of the estimated 40.7 million total employed persons in April 2016 were males. 
 
The largest number of employed persons consists of age group 25 to 34 years with 25.8 percent of the total employed.  The 35 to 44 age group comprised the second largest group (22.5%), while the 15 to 24 age group made up the third largest group (18.5%) (Table 3). 
 
 

More than fifty percent of employed persons are in the services sector 

 
More than half (56.3%) of the employed population were in the services sector.  Employment in the agriculture sector remained the second    largest   group   making  up 25.5 percent of the total employed persons.   In    the   industry   sector, a     combined     of     more      than 17.0 percent employed persons were from the construction (8.7%) and manufacturing (8.5%) sub-sectors.  
                                                                                      
Among workers in the services sector, those engaged in wholesale and retail trade or in the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles made up the largest percentage which accounted for 20.5 percent of the total employed persons in April 2016 (Table 4).
 
 

Workers in elementary occupations make up more than 26 percent of the total employed persons

 
Of the various occupation groups, workers in elementary occupations made up the largest group of 26.5 percent of the 40.7 million total employed population. Managers made up the second largest group of workers with 17.2 percent of the total employed. Service and sales workers were the third largest group accounting for 15.7 percent. Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers were reported at 12.0 percent (Table 5). 
 
 

More than 60 percent of the employed persons are wage and salary workers

 
Employed persons fall into any of these categories: wage and salary workers, self-employed without any paid employee, employer in own family-operated farm or business and unpaid family workers. Wage and salary workers are those who work for private households, private establishments, government and government-controlled corporations and those who work with pay in own family-operated farm or business.  
 
In April 2016, wage and salary workers were registered at 61.6 percent. Those who worked in private establishments made up 48.4 percent, and those working for the government and government-controlled corporations accounted for 7.9 percent (Table 6). 
 
Classifed according to the broad industry groups, six in ten (60.3%) unpaid family workers were in the agriculture sector while 61.0 percent wage and salary workers were in the services sector. The self-employed without any paid employee in the services sector made up 54.1 percent of the total 10.9 million self-employed workers (Table 7 and Figure 6).
 
 

Six in every ten of employed persons are full time workers

 
Employed workers are classified as either full-time or part-time workers. Full-time workers are those  who  work  for 40 hours  or  more  while  part-time  workers  work for less than 40 hours.
In April 2016, full-time workers comprised 65.3 percent of the total employed persons. Those working for 40 to 48 hours made up a larger share (42.5% of the total employed) than those working for more than 48 hours (22.8%). Part-time workers comprised 32.8 percent of the total employed (Table 8). 
 

Underemployment rate is registered at 18.3 percent

 
Underemployed persons are employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job, or a new job with longer working hours. About  7.4  million   underemployed   persons  were   reported  in  April  2016.   Of   this  number, 44.7  percent  worked in the services sector, 36.5 percent were in the agriculture sector while 18.8 percent of these underemployed workers were in the industry sector (Figure 7).
 
 
Visibly underemployed persons are those persons who had been    working    for   less   than 40 hours a week. More than fifty percent (55.2%) were reported as visibly underemployed out of the 7.4 million underemployed workers. Majority of these workers (72.9%) were in the agriculture sector. Forty-eight percent of the 3.3 million workers in the industry sector were reported as visibly underemployed (Table 9). 
 

Unemployment rate is recorded at 6.1 percent 

 
The unemployment rate or the proportion of unemployed persons to the labor force was estimated at 6.1 percent in April 2016 (Table 1). This placed the number of unemployed persons at 2.6 million (Table 2). 
 
Four   regions   had   higher  unemployment   rates   than   the   national   figure   of   6.1 percent. Ilocos  Region   and   CALABARZON   had   the   same   unemployment   rates   at   7.5  percent. National    Capital  Region   had   7.3   percent   and   Central Luzon   with 7.0  percent. (Table 1) and Figure 8).
 
 
More males (63.3%) were unemployed than females (36.7%). Forty-nine percent of the unemployed persons were in age group 15 to 24 years (Table 3).
 
Across   educational   groups, 31.2   percent  of   the   unemployed   were high school graduates, 23.1 percent were college graduates, 6.6 percent were elementary graduates, and 6.2 percent finished post secondary courses (Table 10). 
 

Seventy percent of persons not in the labor force are women

 
More than one-third or 36.5 percent of the 68.2 million population 15 years old and over in April 2016 were not in the labor force. These include housewives, students, persons with disability, and those who have retired from their employment. Seven in ten (70.2%) of those who were not in the labor force were women.
 
Forty-three percent (43.5%) of persons not in the labor force were in age group 15-24 years (Table 3).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SUMMARY

 
  • The labor force population in April 2016 was estimated at 43.3 million. This translates to a labor force participation rate (LFPR) of 63.5 percent.
  • Total employed persons in April 2016 were approximately 40.7 million, resulting to a national employment rate of 93.9 percent.
  • More than half (56.3%) of the total employed persons were in the services sector, 25.5 percent were in the agriculture sector, and 18.2 percent were in the industry sector.
  • Workers in elementary occupations comprised the largest share of employed persons at 26.5 percent of the 40.7 million total employed.
  • Total unemployed persons were accounted at 2.6 million which translates to an unemployment rate of 6.1 percent.
  • Underemployment rate was recorded at 18.3 percent in April 2016.
  • Persons not in the labor force were accounted at 24.9 million of which 70.2 percent were women.
 
 
 
 

TECHNICAL NOTES

 

The Labor Force Survey (LFS) is a nationwide quarterly survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) during the months of January, April, July, and October. For this release, the data being presented are based on the final results of the April 2016 round of the LFS.

The reference period used in the survey is the past seven (7) days preceding the date of interview of the enumerator. 

The concepts and definitions used in the survey can be found in PSA Integrated Survey of Households (ISH) Bulletins.  Some are given below:
 
a. Labor Force – refers to the population 15 years old and over who contribute to the production of goods and services in the country. It comprises the employed and unemployed.
 
b. Employed – refers to persons in the labor force who are reported either as at work or with a job or business although not at work. Persons at work are those who did some work, even for an hour during the reference period.
 
c. Unemployed – refers to persons in the labor force who are reported as: 
1. without work; and 
2. currently available for work; and 
3. seeking work or not seeking work due to the following reasons: 
i.   belief that no work is available, or
ii.  awaiting results of previous job application, or
iii. because of temporary illness or disability, or
iv. bad weather, or
v.  waiting for rehire or job recall.
 
    This definition of unemployed was adopted starting April 2005 per NSCB Resolution No. 15 dated October 20, 2004.
 
d.  Underemployed – refers to employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or an additional job, or a new job with longer working hours.
 
e.  Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) – refers to the proportion of total labor force to the total household population 15 years old and over.
 
f.   Employment Rate – refers to the proportion of employed persons to the total labor force.
 
g.  Unemployment Rate – refers to the proportion of unemployed persons to the total labor force.
 
h.  Underemployment Rate – refers to the proportion of underemployed persons to total employed persons.
 
  • Starting January 2012 LFS, the codes for industry adopted the 2009 Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC).  Prior to this, codes for industry used the 1994 PSIC.
  • Question on vocational course was introduced in the January 2012 Labor Force Survey (LFS) questionnaire. 
  • Starting April 2016 round, the LFS adopted the 2013 Master Sample Design, with a sample size of approximately 44,000 households.
  • The 2012  Philippine Standard Occupational Classification (PSOC) was adopted starting April 2016. The 1992 PSOC had been used prior to April 2016 
  • Starting with the April 2016 LFS round, the population projections based on the 2010 Census of Population and Housing (2010 CPH) was adopted to generate the labor force statistics.
  • Overseas Filipino Workers are not considered part of the labor force in the Philippines. Hence, in the LFS, data on economic characteristics of household members who are overseas workers are not collected.  For the LFS reports, they are excluded in the estimation of the size of working population, that is, population aged 15 years and older, and in the estimation of the labor force.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Related Contents

Press Conference on the January 2024 Labor Force Survey (Preliminary) Results

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announces the conduct of the Press Conference on the January 2024 Labor Force Survey (Preliminary) Results on 08 March 2024 (Friday) at 9:00AM.

Unemployment Rate in December 2023 was Estimated at 3.1 Percent

The country’s unemployment rate in December 2023 dropped to 3.1 percent, from 4.3 percent in December 2022 and 3.6 percent in November 2023.

Press Conference on the December 2023 Labor Force Survey (Preliminary) Results

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announces the conduct of the Press Conference on the December 2023 Labor Force Survey (Preliminary) Results on 07 February 2024 (Wednesday) at 9:00AM.