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Release Date :
Reference Number :
2011-100

 

Philippines

 

October 20111/

 

 

October 2010

 

Population 15 years and over (in 000) 2/

62,165

61,169

Labor Force Participation Rate (%)

66.3

    64.2

Employment Rate (%)

93.6

    92.9

Unemployment Rate (%)

6.4

      7.1

Underemployment Rate (%)

19.1

       19.6

 1/ Estimates for October 2011 are preliminary and may change.  Caution may be taken when comparing October 2011 LFS results with results of other rounds, Please refer to the  Study  undertaken by the NEDA at www.neda.gov.ph

      2/ Population 15 years and over is from the 2000 Census-based population projections.

 

The employment rate or the proportion of employed persons to total labor force in October 2011 is estimated at 93.6 percent. This is higher than the estimate for October last year, which is 92.9 percent.

The top four regions in October 2011 in terms of employment rate were: Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), 97.7 percent; Cagayan Valley, 97.2 percent; Zamboanga Peninsula, 96.6 percent and MIMAROPA, 96.5 percent. The National Capital Region (NCR) had the lowest employment rate at 89.6 percent.

Of the estimated 62.2 million population 15 years old and over, those who were in the labor force in October 2011 was estimated at 41.2 million. These figures translate to a labor force participation rate (LFPR) of 66.3 percent. The LFPR in October last year was 64.2 percent. Among the regions, MIMAROPA registered the highest labor force participation rate at 71.8 percent while Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) posted the lowest LFPR at 57.1 percent.

The employed population in October 2011 is estimated at 38.5 million persons. Those in the services sector comprised the largest group, consisting more than one-half (52.1%) of the total employed population. Workers engaged in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods comprised the largest workforce in the services sector (20.2% of the total employed).

The second largest group of workers belongs to the agriculture sector, accounting for 33.4 percent of the total employed. The remainder of the total employed was in the industry sector (14.5%).

Among the various occupation groups, the laborers and unskilled workers comprised the largest proportion (33.2%) of the total employed population, followed by farmers, forestry workers and fishermen with 15.0 percent share.

Employed persons fall into any of these categories: wage and salary workers, self-employed workers 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 or government controlled corporations, and those who work with pay in own family-operated farm or business. The majority (54.9%) of the total employed population in October 2011 were wage and salary workers, mostly working in private establishments (41.2%). Those working for the government or government controlled corporations accounted for only 8.0 percent. In October 2010, the wage and salary workers accounted for 54.2 percent of the total employed.

The self-employed without any paid employee in October 2011 made up 28.8 percent of the total employed while employers in own family-operated farm or business accounted for 3.9 percent. The share of unpaid family workers to total employed was 12.4 percent. 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 while part-time workers work for less than 40 hours. In October 2011, around 61.8 percent of the total employed persons were full-time workers while 37.0 percent of total employed were part-time workers.

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 are considered underemployed. The number of underemployed persons in October 2011 was estimated at 7.4 million, putting the underemployment rate at 19.1 percent. Fifty-nine percent of the total underemployed were reported as visibly underemployed or working for less than 40 hours during the reference week. Those working for 40 hours or more accounted for 39.7 percent of the total underemployed. Most of the underemployed were working in the agriculture sector (41.9%) and services sector (41.7%). The underemployed in the industry sector accounted for 16.4 percent.

The unemployment rate in October 2011 is estimated at 6.4 percent, which is lower compared to last year's estimate of 7.1 percent. NCR posted the highest unemployment rate at 10.4 percent while Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) posted the lowest at 2.3 percent. There were more males (62.6%) than females (37.4%) among the unemployed. Almost 50.0 percent of the unemployed were in age group 15-24 years.

Across educational groups, almost one-third (32.9%) of the unemployed were high school graduates, more than one-fifth (22.6%) were college undergraduates, while 20 percent were college graduates.

(Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA

Administrator

Technical Notes

Starting July 2003, the Labor Force Survey (LFS) adopted the 2003 Master Sample Design, with a sample size of approximately 50,000 households.

The 1992 four-digit code for Philippine Standard Occupational Classification (PSOC) and 1994 Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC) were used in classifying the occupation and industry.

Starting April 2005, the new unemployment definition was adopted per NSCB Resolution Number 15 dated October 20, 2004. As indicated in the said resolution, the unemployed include all persons who are 15 years and over as of their last birthday and are reported as: (1) without work and currently available for work and seeking work; or (2) without work and currently available for work but not seeking work for the following reasons:

1.) Tired/believed no work available

2.) Awaiting results of previous job application

3.) Temporary illness/disability

4.) Bad weather

5.) Waiting for rehire/job recall

Starting with the January 2007 LFS round, the population projections based on the 2000 Census of Population was adopted to generate the labor force statistics. This is in compliance with NSCB Resolution No. 1 series of 2005 entitled "Adoption of the Methodology Used in Generating the 2000 Census of Population and Housing-Based National Population Projections".

Starting with the January 2010 LFS round, a revised nomenclature on class of worker was adopted. In the reports on previous rounds of LFS, particularly in the statistical tables on employed persons by class of worker, the self-employed and employer in own family-operated farm or business were classified as own-account workers. For the same statistical table in this report, the term own-account worker no longer appears as heading for employer and self-employed to avoid confusion. In the International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE), the term "own-account worker" is synonymous to the category "self-employed" in the Philippines LFS. .

Source:        Income and Employment Statistics Division

Household Statistics Department

National Statistics Office

Manila, Philippines

 

Page last revised: December 15, 2011

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