The current unemployment definition used in the Labor Force Survey (LFS) is presented in the Technical Notes of this report. This definition was adopted per NSCB Resolution Number 15 dated October 20, 2004.
About sixty-five percent of the population 15 years old and over are in the labor force
Out of the estimated 60.2 million population 15 years old and over in January 2010, approximately 38.8 million persons were reported to be in the labor force. These figures placed the labor force participation rate (LFPR) at 64.5 percent. Last year�s LFPR was 63.3 percent. Among the regions, Northern Mindanao registered the highest LFPR at 70.3 percent and ARMM had the lowest at 59.2 percent.
Employment rate is recorded at 92.7 percent
The employment rate or the proportion of employed persons to total labor force was estimated at 92.7 percent in January 2010. This placed the number of employed persons at approximately 36.0 million. In the same month last year, the employment rate was 92.3 percent.
Across regions, Cagayan Valley had the highest employment rate of 97.0 percent, followed closely by Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and MIMAROPA, registering an employment rate of 96.0 percent and 95.8 percent, respectively. The National Capital Region (NCR) had the lowest at 89.2 percent.
Six in ten of the employed population are males
Six in ten (60.2%) of the employed population in January 2010 were males.
Employed persons belonging to age group 25 to 34 accounted for 26.3 percent of the total employed.
The 35 to 44 age group comprised the second largest group, making up 23.3 percent of the total employed, followed by the 15 to 24 age group with 18.7 percent.
More than half of the employed population are in the services sector
In January 2010, workers in the services sector comprised more than one-half (52.4%) of the total employed population. Approximately one-third (32.8%) were in the agriculture sector and the remainder (14.8%) were in the industry sector.
Classified according to subsector of major industry groups, workers in agriculture, hunting and forestry sub-sector comprised the biggest percentage (28.8%) of the total employed. Those in the wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods came next registering 19.6 percent of the total employed.
Laborers and unskilled workers comprise one-third of the total employed
Among the various occupation groups, laborers and unskilled workers comprised the largest occupation group, accounting for 32.7 percent of the employed population. Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen were the second largest group, accounting for 15.4 percent of the total employed population.
Wage and salary workers comprise more than half of the employed
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 or government corporations and those who work with pay in own family-operated farm or business. The majority (55.8%) of the total employed persons in January 2010 were wage and salary workers, most of them (41.4% of the total employed) worked for private establishments. Those working for the government or government controlled corporations accounted for 8.2 percent of the total employed. The share of unpaid family workers to total employed was 10.6 percent.
Close to two-thirds of the employed work full time
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. Sixty five percent of the total employed persons were working full time in January 2010, the majority of them working for 40 to 48 hours (40.6% of the total employed), while 34.2 percent of total employed were part-time workers or worked for less than 40 hours.
About one in every five employed persons desires more hours of work
Employed persons who expressed 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 January 2010 was estimated at 7.1 million, placing the current underemployment rate at 19.7 percent. More than half (57.0%) of the total underemployed were reported as visibly underemployed or working less than 40 hours during the reference week. Those working for 40 hours or more accounted for 41.3 percent of the total underemployed.
Most of the underemployed were working in the agriculture sector (46.7% of the total underemployed) and services sector (39.1% of the total underemployed). The underemployed in the industry sector accounted for 14.3 percent of the total underemployed.
Unemployment rate in January 2010 is 7.3 percent
The number of unemployed in January 2010 was estimated at 2.8 million which yielded an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent. In the same month last year, the estimate was 7.7 percent.
The NCR posted the highest unemployment rate at 10.8 percent and Cagayan Valley the lowest at 3.0 percent.
Sixty-five percent of the unemployed were males. More than half (51.5%) of the unemployed were in age group 15 to 24 years.
Across educational groups, high school graduates comprised one-third (33.1%) of the total unemployed, less than one-fifth (19.4%) were college undergraduates and 18.4 percent were college graduates.
Seven in ten of the population who are not in the labor force are females
More than one-third (35.5%) of the population 15 years old and over in January 2010 were not in the labor force, like housewives, students, persons with disability, and retirees. Seven in ten persons not in the labor force were women.
Majority of persons who were not in the labor force belonged to younger age groups, that is, 46.5 percent were 15 to 24 years old and 16.5 percent were 25 to 34 years old.
SUMMARY
There were 38.8 million persons in the labor force out of the estimated 60.2 million population 15 years old and over.
The employment rate in January 2010 registered at 92.7 percent. In the same month last year, the rate was estimated at 92.3 percent.
More than half or 52.4 percent of the employed population were in the services sector, 32.8 percent were in the agriculture sector and the rest (14.8%) were in the industry sector.
Laborers and unskilled workers continued to make up the largest proportion of the employed as they comprised almost one-third (32.7%) of the employed population. Farmers, forestry workers, and fishermen came second with 15.4 percent.
More than half (55.8%) of the total employed persons were wage and salary workers, 29.4 percent were self-employed, 4.2 percent were employers in own family-operated farm or business and 10.6 percent were unpaid family workers.
Underemployment rate was estimated at 19.7 percent in January 2010 compared to 18.2 percent in January 2009.
Unemployment rate in January 2010 was estimated at 7.3 percent compared to 7.7 percent in January 2009.
TECHNICAL NOTES
The Labor Force Survey (LFS) is a nationwide quarterly survey conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO). For this release, the data being presented are based on the final results of the January 2010 round of the LFS.
The reference period used in the survey is the past seven (7) days preceding the date of visit of the enumerator. The number of sample households was 51,000.
The concepts and definitions used in the survey can be found in NSO-ISH Bulletins. Some are given below:
a. Labor Force - 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 - persons in the labor force who are reported either 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 - 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 because of the belief that no work is available, or awaiting results of previous job application, or because of temporary illness or disability, bad weather or waiting for rehire or job recall
Note: The new definition of unemployed was adopted starting April 2005 per NSCB Resolution No. 15 dated October 20, 2004.
The old definition of unemployed considered only two criteria:
1) Without work and looking for work; or
2) Without work and not looking for work due to valid reasons.
d. Underemployed - employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or an additional job, or have a new job with longer working hours
e. Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) - ratio of total labor force to the total household population 15 years and over
f. Employment Rate - proportion of employed persons to the total labor force
g. Unemployment Rate - proportion of unemployed persons to the total labor force
h. Underemployment Rate - proportion of underemployed persons to total employed persons.
Starting with the July 2003 round, the LFS used the 2003 Master Sample Design. Using this design, the number of sample households is around 51,000 households.
The province of Basilan is included in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao while Isabela City (Basilan) is placed under Region IX, in accordance with Executive Order No.36.
The 1992 four-digit code for Philippine Standard Occupational Classification (PSOC) and the 1994 Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC) were used in classifying the occupation and industry, respectively.
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 is adopted. In the reports on previous rounds of LFS, particularly in the statistical tables on employed persons by class of worker, the categories self-employed and employer in own family-operated farm or business were classified as own-account workers. In this report, the term own-account worker was dropped as sub-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.
