Preliminary Results of the 2016 Annual Estimates of Labor Force Survey (LFS)
| Philippines | 2016 |
| Population 15 years and over (in 000) | 68,125 |
| Labor Force Participation Rate (%) | 63.4 |
| Employment Rate (%) | 94.5 |
| Unemployment Rate (%) | 5.5 |
| Underemployment Rate (%) | 18.3 |
| Note: The methodology for the computation of annual estimates of labor and employment indicators is based on a Resolution found in the PSA website, Approving and Adopting the Official Methodology for Generating Annual Labor and Employment Estimates, using the average of the estimates of the four LFS rounds. |
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Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, Annual Labor and Employment Estimates for 2016 |
The preliminary results of the Annual Labor and Employment Estimates for 2016 based on the average of the four (4) LFS rounds (January, April, July and October) reported an annual labor force participation rate of 63.4 percent out of the 68.1 million population 15 years old and over. This is equivalent to about 43.2 million economically active population comprising either the employed or unemployed persons. The annual employment rate was reported at 94.5 percent and the annual unemployment rate was 5.5 percent. The annual underemployment rate was estimated at 18.3 percent (Table 4).
The total employed persons was approximately 40.8 million in 2016 (Table 1). Employed persons are grouped into three major sectors - agriculture, industry and services sector. Those in the services sector comprised more than half (55.6 %) of the total employed persons. About 19.6 percent were engaged in wholesale and retail trade or in the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles. Workers in the agriculture made up the second largest sector accounting for 26.9 percent, while those in the industry sector, 17.5 percent.
As to occupation groups, workers in the elementary occupations remained the largest group making up 28.1 percent among the total employed persons in 2016. Managers comprised the second largest occupation group (17.0%), followed by service and sales workers (14.8%) and skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers (12.4%) [Table 1].
Employed persons fall into any of these classes of workers - wage and salary workers, self-employed workers without any paid employee, employers in own family-operated farm or business, and unpaid family workers. Those classified as wage and salary workers accounted for 61.7 percent of the total employed persons in which those who worked in private establishments was the largest in proportion (48.2%), followed by workers in government and government-controlled corporations (8.1%), workers in private households (5.1%) and workers with pay in own family-operated farms or businesses (0.3%). The self-employed workers without any paid employee was estimated at 26.9 percent of the total employed, while the unpaid family workers, 8.0 percent (Table 1).
Employed persons are classified as either full-time workers or part-time workers. Full-time workers are those who work for 40 hours or more in a week, while part-time workers work for less than 40 hours. Two-thirds (66.6%) of the total employed persons worked for 40 hours or longer in a week whereas, those who worked for less than 40 hours, 32.5 percent. Those who did not report for work during the reference week comprised 1.0 percent (Table 1).
The underemployed persons or those employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours was estimated at 7.5 million persons corresponding to an underemployment rate of 18.3 percent (Tables 2 and 4).
The unemployed persons numbered about 2.4 million resulting to an annual unemployment rate of 5.5 percent (Tables 3 and 4). Of this number, 77.7 percent belonged to age group15 to 34 years wherein those in age group 15 to 24 years comprised 48.4 percent and those in the age group 25 to 34 years, 29.3 percent (Table 3).
There were more unemployed males (62.8%) than unemployed females (37.2%). One-third of these unemployed persons were high school graduates (31.2%) and more than one-fifth were college graduates (21.4%) [Table 3].
FOR THE NATIONAL STATISTICIAN
| (Sgd.) ROMEO S. RECIDE |
| (Deputy National Statistician) |
| Officer-In-Charge |
Technical Notes
The annual labor and employment statistics presented in this release for 2016 used the average estimates of labor and employment indicators from the four Labor Force Survey (LFS) rounds conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on a quarterly basis. The use of the average estimates of the four-quarter rounds of the LFS data was based on NSCB Resolution No. 9, Series of 2009 - Approving and Adopting the Official Methodology for Generating Annual Labor and Employment Estimates, approved on the 6th day of July 2009.
For 2016, the methodology for annual labor and employment estimates uses the following formula to estimate employment, unemployment, underemployment and labor force participation rates: Zi= ( ∑j Xij / ∑j Ykj ) x 100
where:
Zi = annual estimate for the rate of i where i refers to employment, unemployment, underemployment and labor force participation
Xij = estimate for the population of i for the jthround of LFS where
i refers to employed, unemployed, underemployed and labor force, and
j refers to the four rounds of LFS: January, April, July and October
Ykj= estimate for the population of k for the jthround of LFS where
k refers to labor force, employed persons and persons 15 years old and over, and
j refers to the four rounds of LFS: January, April, July and October
The official methodology was deemed the most appropriate among methodologies reviewed and evaluated for the following reasons: a) it captures the labor and employment situation in all four quarters of the year; b) the generation or cross tabulations (e.g., by class of workers, by occupation group) is more feasible for producer of estimates; c) it is the closest method for estimating the number of persons who work four times for the entire year; and d) these estimates are being used by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and its attached agencies and regional offices for planning/formulation of intervention programs.
Source: Income and Employment Statistics Division
Social Sector Statistics Service
Philippine Statistics Authority
Quezon City, Philippines
