a. Employment rate in the country in April 2022 was estimated at 94.3 percent, translating to about 45.63 million employed Filipinos. This was higher compared to the reported employment rate at 91.3 percent in April 2021 or a year-on-year  increase of about 2.36 million employed Filipinos from 43.27 million in April 2021. (Table A)

b. The country’s unemployment rate has improved from the reported 8.7 percent a year ago to 5.7 percent in April 2022. Unemployment rate was posted at 6.4 percent in January 2022. (Table A)

In terms of magnitude, the total number of unemployed individuals 15 years old and over in April 2022 was registered at 2.76 million. It was lower by 1.38 million from the number of unemployed persons in April 2021. (Table A)

c. Persons in the labor force or the number of persons 15 years old and over reported as either employed or unemployed was estimated at 48.39 million in April 2022. This was higher compared to the 47.41 million Filipinos in the labor force for the same period last year. The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in April 2022 was likewise higher at 63.4 percent compared to the reported 63.2 percent in April last year. (Table A)

d. On average, an employed person worked 40.1 hours per week in April 2022. This was higher than the average hours worked at 38.0 hours per week in April 2021, but lower than the average hours worked in January 2022 at 41.8 hours per week. (Tables A and 2)

e. Underemployed persons or employed persons who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job or to have a new job with longer hours of work was reported at 6.40 million of the 45.63 million employed population, translating to an underemployment rate of 14.0 percent in April 2022. Underemployment rate reported in April last year was higher at 17.2 percent. 

Visible underemployment rate or the proportion of underemployed persons working less than 40 hours in a week was reported at 9.2 percent, higher than the reported 8.9 percent in January 2022 but lower than the 12.3 percent reported in April 2021.

On the other hand, invisible underemployment rate or the proportion of underemployed persons working at least 40 hours in a week was placed at 4.8 percent, lower than the estimated 5.9 percent in January 2022 and the 4.9 percent in April last year. (Table A)

f. Across regions, Zamboanga Peninsula registered the highest employment rate at 97.1 percent while Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) posted the lowest employment rate at 91.9 percent. Six of the country’s 17 regions posted lower employment rates compared to the 94.3 percent national estimate. These were the following: BARMM (91.9%), NCR (92.5%), Region IV-A (93.2%), Region V (93.8%), Region VIII (94.0%) and Region I (94.1%). (Table 4)

g. By region, Region X registered the highest LFPR at 68.7 percent in April 2022 while Region XI registered the lowest at 57.4 percent. Eight regions posted LFPR lower than the national average, namely: Region XI (57.4%), Region VIII (60.0%), Region IX (60.4%), Region III (60.6%), NCR (61.0%), Region V (62.3%), Region VI (62.3%) and BARMM (62.6%). (Table 4)

h. By sex, LFPR was higher among males at 75.1 percent than females at 51.5 percent. Likewise, underemployment rate was higher among males at 15.4 percent while 12.0 percent among females. Further, in April 2022, the employment rate was reported the same among males and females at 94.3 percent. (Table D)

i. By broad industry group, the services sector continued its dominance over other sectors having the largest share of employed persons at 58.0 percent.  On the other hand, a combined share of 42.0 percent of the 45.63 million employed population 15 years old and over were engaged in agriculture (23.6%) and the industry (18.4%) sectors. (Tables 1 and B)

The year-on-year changes in the number of employed persons from April 2021 to April 2022 showed the following top five sub-sectors with highest increase, namely:

a. Administration and support service activities (+349 thousand);
b. Accommodation and food service activities (+343 thousand);
c. Transportation and storage (+289 thousand);
d. Agriculture and forestry (+251 thousand); and
e. Construction (+249 thousand).

On the other hand, three subsectors registered the largest drop in the number of employed persons from April 2021 to April 2022. These were the following:

a. Fishing and aquaculture (-59 thousand);
b. Education (-55 thousand); and
c. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (-24 thousand).
(Tables 2 and B)

j. Youth labor force participation rate (LFPR) in April 2022 was estimated at 34.8 percent. This was lower compared to the reported estimate of 38.2 percent in the same period last year but higher than the 32.0 percent estimate in January 2022. (Table A)

k. Youth employment rate was reported at 87.7 percent or 6.14 million of the 7.01 million youth labor force. This was higher than the reported estimate of 86.2 percent in January 2022 and the 84.2 percent reported in the same period last year. On the other hand, unemployed youth was placed at 12.3 percent or 861 thousand out of the 7.01 million youth in the labor force. (Table A)

l. Underemployed youth was reported at 11.4 percent or 703 thousand of the total 6.14 million youth reportedly employed in April 2022. (Table A)

m. Employed youth in April 2022 worked on an average of 36.9 hours per week, higher than the 35.0 hours a week reported in the same period in 2021 but lower than 39.1 mean hours worked per week reported in January 2022. (Table A)

n. Youth not in employment, not in education, and not in training (NEET) accounted for 11.9 percent of the 20.12 million youth population 15 to 24 years old. This was lower than the youth NEET in April 2021 (15.8%) and in January 2022 (14.5%).

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

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