More than 50 percent of the population 15 years old and over are in the labor force
Labor force participation rate (LFPR) was estimated at 58.7 percent in October 2020. This accounted for 43.65 million of the estimated 74.31 million Filipinos 15 years old and over who were either employed or unemployed in October 2020. Among the regions, Caraga, and Northern Mindanao had the highest LFPR, both at 63.8 percent while Zamboanga Peninsula had the lowest LFPR with 55.7 percent. (Table 1 and Figure 1)
Employment rate registers at 91.3 percent
The total number of employed persons was reported at 39.84 million of the estimated 43.65 million Filipinos in the labor force in October 2020. The employment rate or the proportion of employed persons to the total labor force was estimated at 91.3 percent. (Table 1)
Across the regions, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) had the highest employment rate with 96.6 percent. Five of the 17 regions, namely: National Capital Region (NCR) (87.6%), Ilocos Region (88.5%), CALABARZON (89.0%), Central Visayas (90.1%), and Central Luzon (90.4%) had employment rates lower than the national estimate of 91.3 percent. (Table 1 and Figure 2)
More males than females among the employed
Of the estimated 39.84 million employed persons in October 2020, 62.0 percent or 62 in every 100 employed Filipinos were males and 38.0 percent or 38 in every 100 employed Filipinos were females. (Table 3)
Across age groups, the largest number of employed persons were in age group 25 to 34 years, which accounted for 27.6 percent of the total employed. The 35 to 44 age group comprised the second largest group (24.1%), followed by the age group 45 to 54 (19.2%). (Table 3 and
Figure 3)
More than half of employed persons are in the services sector
By broad industry group, the services sector remained as the dominant employment hub absorbing 57.2 percent of the 39.84 million employed Filipinos in October 2020. The same sector employed 57.7 percent of the total employed in October 2019. (Table 4 and Figure 4)
In the agriculture sector, the combined share of agriculture, forestry, and hunting and fishing subsectors was placed at 24.5 percent in October 2020, while it was registered at 23.5 percent in October 2019. Moreover, the share of the industry sector to total employment was 18.3 percent in October 2020 and 18.9 percent in October 2019. (Table 4 and Figure 4)
Across subsectors, those engaged in agriculture, forestry, and hunting comprised the largest percent share at 21.2 percent of the total employed Filipinos in October 2020. This was followed by those engaged in wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles at 21.0 percent. (Table 4)
More than one-fourth of employed persons are in elementary occupations
Across occupation groups, workers in elementary occupations comprised the largest share of 25.6 percent of the 39.84 million total employed Filipinos in October 2020. Service and sales workers were the second largest group of workers (19.6%) followed by the skilled agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers (14.2%). (Table 5 and Figure 5)
More than sixty percent of employed persons are wage and salary workers
Employed persons were categorized as wage and salary workers, self-employed without any paid employee, employer in own family-operated farm or business, and worked without pay in own family-operated farm or business.
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 2020, wage and salary workers comprised 62.5 percent of the total employed, lower than the 64.2 percent in October 2019. Of the wage and salary workers, 48.8 percentage points were contributed by those who worked in private establishments while 9.5 percentage points were workers in government and government-controlled corporations. (Table 6)
Classified according to broad industry group, in October 2020, 58.1 percent of the wage and salary workers, and 54.4 percent of the self-employed without any paid employee were engaged in the services sector. Further, 62.9 percent of the employers in own-family operated farm or business, and 56.5 percent of those who worked without pay in own family-operated farm or business were in the agriculture sector. (Table 7 and Figure 6).
More than half of employed persons work full-time
Employed workers are classified as either full-time or part-time workers. Full-time workers are those who work for 40 hours or more while part-time workers are those who work for less than 40 hours per week. Full-time workers comprised 65.9 percent of the total employed persons in October 2020. Specifically, those who worked for 40 to 48 hours shared 48.1 percentage points, while those compared to those who worked more than 48 hours shared 17.8 percentage points. Furthermore, among the employed workers, 33.1 percent were part-time workers. The average weekly hours of work of an employed person in October 2020 was recorded at 40.9 hours, which is lower than the October 2019 average at 41.8 hours. (Table 8)
Underemployment rate registers at 14.4 percent
Underemployed persons are employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job or have a new job with longer working hours. Underemployment rate was registered at 14.4 percent of the total employed persons. This translates to 5.75 million underemployed persons in October 2020. (Tables 1 and 2)
Figure 7 shows that 50.0 percent of the underemployed persons were in the services sector, followed by agriculture sector with a share of 31.3 percent. Moreover, the industry sector has the lowest share in the number of underemployed at 18.6 percent.
Visibly underemployed, or those employed persons who had been working for less than 40 hours a week accounted for 60.8 percent of the total underemployed persons. Among the underemployed persons in the agriculture sector, 73.7 percent were visibly underemployed. (Table 9)
Unemployment rate reaches 8.7 percent
Of the 43.65 million economically active population 15 years old and over, 3.81 million were unemployed, which placed the country's unemployment rate in October 2020 to 8.7 percent. (Tables 1 and 2)
Among the regions, unemployment rates in National Capital Region (NCR) (12.4%), Ilocos Region (11.5%), CALABARZON (11.0%), Central Visayas (9.9%), and Central Luzon (9.6%) were higher than the national average of 8.7 percent. (Table 1 and Figure 8)
Most unemployed persons were aged 15 to 24 years old, sharing 34.7 percent of the total unemployed. Further, 61.4 percent of the unemployed persons were males while 38.6 percent were females. (Table 3)
By highest educational attainment, the highest percentage of unemployed persons were junior high school graduates (26.4%), including high school graduates from the old curriculum. This was followed by college graduates at 24.0 percent, elementary graduates at 5.4 percent, senior high school graduates at 5.0 percent, and post-secondary graduate at 3.5 percent. (Table 10)
Majority of persons not in the labor force are women
Persons not in the labor force are those who are neither employed nor unemployed. It includes persons who are not available and are not looking for work such as the housewives, students, persons with disability, and those who have retired from their employment. More than forty percent (41.3%) or 30.66 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and over in October 2020 were not in the labor force, 66.2 percent of which were women. (Table 3)
By age group, 43.2 percent of persons not in the labor force were in age group 15-24 years. (Table 3 and Figure 9)
1. The labor force population in October 2020 was estimated at 43.65 million. This translates to a labor force participation rate (LFPR) of 58.7 percent.
2. Total employed persons were approximately 39.84 million, registering a national employment rate of 91.3 percent.
3. By sector, more than half (57.2%) of the total employed were in the services sector, 24.5 percent were in the agriculture sector, and 18.3 percent were in the industry sector.
4. Among occupation groups, workers in elementary occupations made up the largest percentage of employed persons as they comprised 25.6 percent of the 39.84 million total employed population.
5. Unemployed persons were reported at 3.81 million resulting to an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent in October 2020.
6. Underemployment rate was estimated at 14.4 percent.
