Table A-1. Key Labor and Employment Indicators
2019f-June 2023p
Philippines | Labor Force Participation Rate (%) | Employment Rate (%) | Underemployment Rate (%) | Unemployment Rate (%) |
| 2019f | 61.3 | 94.9 | 13.8 | 5.1 |
| 2020f | 59.5 | 89.7 | 16.2 | 10.3 |
| 2021f | 63.3 | 92.2 | 15.9 | 7.8 |
| 2022p | 64.7 | 94.6 | 14.2 | 5.4 |
| Januaryf | 60.5 | 93.6 | 14.9 | 6.4 |
| Februaryf | 63.8 | 93.6 | 14.0 | 6.4 |
| Marchf | 65.4 | 94.2 | 15.8 | 5.8 |
| Aprilf | 63.4 | 94.3 | 14.0 | 5.7 |
| Mayf | 64.0 | 94.0 | 14.5 | 6.0 |
| Junef | 64.8 | 94.0 | 12.6 | 6.0 |
| Julyp | 65.2 | 94.8 | 13.8 | 5.2 |
| Augustp | 66.1 | 94.7 | 14.7 | 5.3 |
| Septemberp | 65.2 | 95.0 | 15.4 | 5.0 |
| Octoberp | 64.2 | 95.5 | 14.2 | 4.5 |
| Novemberp | 67.5 | 95.8 | 14.4 | 4.2 |
| Decemberp | 66.4 | 95.7 | 12.6 | 4.3 |
| 2023p | 65.6 | 95.4 | 12.5 | 4.6 |
| Januaryp | 64.5 | 95.2 | 14.1 | 4.8 |
| Februaryp | 66.6 | 95.2 | 12.9 | 4.8 |
| Marchp | 66.0 | 95.3 | 11.2 | 4.7 |
| Aprilp | 65.1 | 95.5 | 12.9 | 4.5 |
| Mayp | 65.3 | 95.7 | 11.7 | 4.3 |
| Junep | 66.1 | 95.5 | 12.0 | 4.5 |
Notes:
f Estimates are final
p Estimates are preliminary and may change
Highlights of the June 2023 Labor Force Survey
The country’s employment rate in June 2023 was estimated at 95.5 percent. This was higher than the reported 94.0 percent employment rate in the same month last year, but slightly lower than the 95.7 percent estimate in May 2023. In terms of magnitude, the number of employed persons was posted at 48.84 million in June 2023, while 46.59 million in June 2022. In May 2023, the number of employed persons was 48.26 million. (Table A)
The number of unemployed persons in June 2023 decreased to 2.33 million from 2.99 million in June 2022, posting a year-on-year decline of 663 thousand unemployed persons. However, the number of unemployed persons in June 2023 was higher by 159 thousand compared with the number of unemployed persons in May 2023. (Table A and Table 3)
In terms of rates, a lower unemployment rate of 4.5 percent was registered in June 2023 compared with the 6.0 percent estimate in June last year. The unemployment rate in May 2023 was posted at 4.3 percent. (Table A)
Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in June 2023 was estimated at 66.1 percent, higher than the recorded LFPR in June 2022 (64.8%) and May 2023 (65.3%). (Table A)
The average hours worked by an employed person in June 2023 increased to 40.0 hours per week, which was slightly lower compared with that of June 2022 at 40.3 hours per week but higher than the reported average hours worked in May 2023 at 39.3 hours per week. (Tables A and 2)
The underemployment rate in June 2023 was posted at 12.0 percent. This was equivalent to 5.87 million employed Filipinos 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. In June 2022, this was estimated at 12.6 percent and in May 2023 at 11.7 percent. (Table A)
By broad industry group, the services sector continued its dominance among the sectors in terms of number of employed persons with a share of 58.2 percent. The agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 23.8 percent and 18.0 percent share, respectively. (Table 1)
The year-on-year change in the number of employed persons in June 2023 showed the following top five sub-sectors with their annual increments:
a. Accommodation and food service activities (612 thousand);
b. Agriculture and forestry (457 thousand);
c. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (358 thousand);
d. Other service activities (268 thousand); and
e. Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (219 thousand).
On the other hand, the following sub-sectors had the highest drop in the number of employed persons from June 2022 to June 2023:
a. Fishing and aquaculture (-233 thousand);
b. Manufacturing (-99 thousand);
c. Professional, scientific and technical activities (-65 thousand);
d. Mining and quarrying (-62 thousand); and
e. Information and communication (-45 thousand). (Table B)
For the month-on-month changes in the number of employed persons in June 2023, the top five subsectors with the largest increases were observed in the following:
a. Construction (488 thousand);
b. Agriculture and forestry (469 thousand);
c. Administrative and support service activities (308 thousand);
d. Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (128 thousand); and
e. Accommodation and food service activities (104 thousand).
In contrast, the top five sub-sectors with the largest monthly drop in the number of employed persons were the following:
a. Fishing and aquaculture (-575 thousand);
b. Transportation and storage (-205 thousand);
c. Arts, entertainment and recreation (-124 thousand);
d. Real estate activities (-99 thousand); and
e. Professional, scientific and technical activities (-97 thousand). (Table B)
Wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons with 61.5 percent of the total employed persons in June 2023. This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.1 percent and unpaid family workers at 9.5 percent. Employers in their own family-operated farm or business had the lowest share of 1.9 percent.
Among wage and salary workers, those who work in private establishments remained the highest group with 47.6 percentage points, followed by those who work in the government or government-controlled corporations with 9.4 percentage points and those workers in private household with 4.2 percentage points. (Table 1)
Youth employment rate was estimated at 90.1 percent or 6.45 million employed youth out of the 7.16 million youth labor force. This was higher than the recorded estimate of 88.2 percent in June 2022 and 89.4 percent reported in May 2023. Unemployment rate among youth was recorded at 9.9 percent or 711 thousand out of the 7.16 million youth labor force.
In June 2023, employed youth worked on the average 33.6 hours per week, lower than the 36.0 hours per week estimated in June 2022 but higher than the 33.3 mean hours worked per week in May 2023. (Table A)
(SGD.) CLAIRE DENNIS S. MAPA, PhD
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General
