Six out of 10 persons 15 years old and over are in the labor force
The population aged 15 years and over in October 2013 was estimated at about 64.4 million (Table 1). Of this number, 41.2 million were in the labor force (Table 2 and Table 3). The labor force consists of the employed and the unemployed persons. The labor force participation rate in October 2013 is estimated at 63.9 percent. The estimate of LFPR for October 2012 is also 63.9 percent. Among the regions, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) had the lowest LFPR at 57.2 percent.
Employment rate is recorded at 93.6 percent
The number of employed persons in October 2013 was estimated at 38.5 million (Table 2). This translates to an employment rate of 93.6 percent (Table 1). The employment rate in October 2012 was estimated at 93.2 percent.
Among the regions, the National Capital Region (NCR) had the lowest employment rate in October 2013 at 89.8 percent (Table 1). The two adjacent regions of the NCR, namely, Central Luzon (92.2%) and CALABARZON (91.9%) likewise had rates lower than the national figure.
There were more employed males than employed females
Of the 38.5 million employed persons in October 2013, 60.7 percent were males while 39.3 percent were females. This means that three in five employed persons were males.
One in every four (26.3%) employed persons was in the age group 25 to 34 years (Table 3).
The second largest group of employed persons was the age group 35 to 44, making up 23.0 percent of the total employed, followed by the age group 15 to 24 with 19.3 percent (Table 3).
The majority of the employed persons work in the services sector
In October 2013, workers in the services sector comprised the largest proportion of the population who are employed, making up 53.4 percent of the total employed persons. Workers in the agriculture sector registered the second largest group accounting for 31.5 percent of the total employed while workers in the industry sector made up the smallest group registering 15.1 percent of the total employed persons (Figure 4).
Among the subsectors of major industry groups, workers in agriculture, hunting and forestry comprised the largest percentage (27.9% of the total employed). Those engaged in wholesale and retail trade or in repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles constituted the second largest group, making up 18.8 percent of the total employed (Table 4).
One in three employed persons is a laborer and unskilled worker
Among the major occupation groups, the laborers and unskilled workers comprised the largest occupation group, making up 32.4 percent of the total employed population in October 2013. Officials of the government and special interest organizations, corporate executives, managers, managing proprietors and supervisors were the second largest group, accounting for 16.1 percent of the total employed (Table 5 and Figure 5).
Wage and salary workers comprise about 58 percent of the employed population
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 and government-controlled corporations and those who work with pay in own family-operated farm or business. In October 2013, the majority (57.6%) of the total employed persons were wage and salary workers, with the largest proportion of them (44.5% of the total employed) working for private establishments. Those working for the government and government-controlled corporations accounted for 7.8 percent of the total employed while those working for private households comprised 5.0 percent. About 28.2 percent were self-employed without any paid employee, while the unpaid family workers made up 10.8 percent (Table 6).
Among the unpaid family workers, 67.9 percent were working in the agriculture sector. In contrast, the majority of the wage and salary workers were in the services sector with three in every five (60.4%) of such workers belonging to that sector (Table 7 and Figure 6).
Three in five employed persons are full-time workers
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. Of the total employed persons in October 2013, 62.4 percent or three in every five were full-time workers, while 36.6 percent were part-time workers (Table 8). Among those working full time, 65.5 percent worked for 40 to 48 hours, while 34.5 percent worked for more than 48 hours. On the average, employed persons worked for 41.0 hours during the reference week.
One in every five employed persons desires more hours of work
Employed persons who express 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 working hours are considered underemployed. The total number of underemployed in October 2013 was estimated at 7.0 million (Table 2), which resulted to an underemployment rate of 18.1 percent (Table 1). About 63.0 percent of the total underemployed were reported as visibly underemployed or working less than 40 hours during the reference week. Those underemployed working full time (worked 40 hours or more) accounted for 35.9 percent of the total underemployed, while the remaining 1.5 percent were underemployed who did not report for work during the reference week (Table 9).
Of the total underemployed persons, the largest proportion comprised of those working in the agriculture sector (45.3%), followed by those in the services sector (39.6%). The underemployed persons in the industry sector accounted for 15.1 percent. Among the visibly underemployed persons, the majority were working in the agriculture sector, making up 57.2 percent. The underemployed who worked full time were mainly in the services sector (53.3 percent of underemployed working full time) (Table 9 and Figure 7).
Unemployment rate was estimated at 6.4 percent
In October 2013, the unemployment rate or the proportion of unemployed persons to the labor force was estimated at 6.4 percent (Table 1). The unemployment rate in October 2012 was estimated at 6.8 percent. Among the regions, NCR (10.2%) had the highest unemployment rate, followed by CALABARZON (8.1%) and Central Luzon (7.8%) (Table 1).
The majority (64.3%) of the unemployed were males. Almost half (47.6%) of the unemployed persons belong to age group 15 to 24 years, while age group 25 to 34, 31.8 percent (Table 3).
By educational attainment, 21.4 percent of the unemployed were college graduates, 13.9 percent were college undergraduates, and 33.3 percent were high school graduates (Table 10).
Seven in ten persons who are not in the labor force are women
Thirty-six percent of the population 15 years old and over in October 2013 were not in the labor force. These are the housewives, students, persons with disability, and retirees. Seven out of ten (69.7%) persons who were not in the labor force were females.
Almost half (46.0%) of those who were not in the labor force were in the age group 15 to 24 years (Table 3).
SUMMARY
Out of the estimated 64.4 million population 15 years old and over, 41.2 million persons were in the labor force in October 2013. These resulted to a labor force participation rate of 63.9 percent.
The estimate of LFPR for October 2012 is also 63.9 percent.
Among the regions, ARMM had the lowest LFPR at 57.2 percent in October 2013.
The employment rate in October 2013 was estimated at 93.6 percent. Last year’s employment rate was estimated at 93.2 percent.
Fifty-three percent of the employed persons were in the services sector, 31.5 percent were in the agriculture sector and the remaining 15.1 percent were in the industry sector.
Laborers and unskilled workers remained to constitute the largest proportion of the employed as they comprised one-third (32.4%) of the employed population. Officials of government and special interest organizations, corporate executives, managers, managing proprietors and supervisors comprised the second largest occupation group at 16.1 percent.
Almost three-fifths (57.6%) of the total employed persons were wage and salary workers, 28.2 percent were self-employed, 3.4 percent were employers in own family-operated farm or business, and 10.8 percent were unpaid family workers.
Underemployment rate was estimated at 18.1 percent in October 2013. In the same month of 2012, the underemployment rate was estimated at 19.0 percent.
The largest proportion (45.3%) of underemployed persons were working in the agriculture sector.
Sixty-three percent of the total underemployed were reported as visibly underemployed.
In October 2013, the unemployment rate was estimated at 6.4 percent. The unemployment rate in October 2012 was 6.8 percent.
Among the regions, NCR (10.2%) had the highest unemployment rate.
The majority (64.3%) of the unemployed were males.
Twenty-one percent of the total unemployed were college graduates.
Technical Notes
The Labor Force Survey (LFS) is a nationwide survey conducted quarterly by the National Statistics Office (
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 about 50,000.
The concepts and definitions used in the survey can be found in
a. Labor Force – refers to the 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 – refers to persons in the labor force who are reported either as 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 – refers to 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 due to the following reasons:
i) belief that no work is available, or
ii) awaiting results of previous job application, or
iii) because of temporary illness or disability, or
iv) bad weather, or
v) waiting for rehire or job recall.
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 reasons cited in 3(i) to 3(v).
d. Underemployed – refers to 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) – proportion 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 50,000 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.
Starting with the January 2007 LFS round, the population projections based on the 2000 Census of Population and Housing 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 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.
Starting January 2012 LFS, the codes for industry adopted the 2009 Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC). Prior to this, codes for industry used the 1994 PSIC. While for the classification of occupation, the 1992 four-digit code for Philippine Standard Occupational Classification updated in 2002 (PSOC) is still being utilized.
