Employment in establishments remained positive in the fourth quarter of 2018

The nationwide labor turnover rate for this quarter was posted at 0.6 percent, almost unchanged from the 0.8 percent rate recorded in the third quarter of 2018.

This indicates that 6 workers per 1,000 employed persons were added to the workforce in establishments in the country.

The accession rate of 8.0 percent signified that for every 1,000 employed, 80 workers were hired due to either business expansion or replacement of separated workers.

However, the separation rate of 7.5 percent implied that 75 workers per 1,000 employed were either laid-off or quitted their jobs.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing sector led in overall employment gain

The highest labor turnover rate during the quarter was recorded in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector at 2.5 percent, having an accession and separation rates of 6.8 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. For the previous quarters, negative labor turnover rates were yielded at -1.3 percent (second quarter) and -1.5 percent (third quarter) for the said sector.

Moreover, a positive labor turnover rate was also registered in the services sector at 1.2 percent resulting from a hiring rate of 8.5 percent and termination rate of 7.2 percent. The major contributors of employment gains under this group were wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles (2.6%), accommodation and food service activities (2.3%) and education (2.2%). On the other hand, two out of twelve industries under this sector posted negative labor turnover rates for the period. Depletion in employment were noted in professional, scientific and technical activities (-2.3%) and real estate activities (-0.3%).

During the period, industry posted the highest separation rate of 8.5 percent among the sectors outpacing its accession rate of 6.8 percent thereby registering a negative labor turnover rate of 1.7 percent. Employment losses were recorded in construction (3.4%), manufacturing (1.6%) and mining and quarrying (1.4%).

JOSIE B. PEREZ
Assistant Secretary
Officer-in-Charge

See more at the Labor Turnover Survey (LTS) Landing page.

TECHNICAL NOTES

The Labor Turnover Survey (LTS) is conducted quarterly to come up with timely information on labor market trends in the formal sector of the economy, the items of inquiry have been limited to employment, labor turnover and existing job vacancies. Labor turnover statistics, as a measure of labor demand, provides policy and decision makers complementary data on labor supply which helps them in examining and analyzing the labor market situation of the nation’s economy.

Starting 1st Quarter 2018, the LTS is conducted nationwide covering establishments employing 20 or more workers. Using the establishment as the unit of enumeration, the survey sampling frame was extracted from the preliminary 2017 List of Establishments (LE) as of January 2018. The survey covers 18 of 21 major industries classified according to the amended 2009 Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC). A total of 5,469 sample establishments for the 2018 LTS nationwide were selected.

This Press Release features the preliminary results of the survey based on the 87.8% response rate for all industries covered during the 4th quarter 2018. The final result will be posted one month after together with the LABSTAT Updates.

DEFINITION OF TERMS AND CONCEPTS

1. Establishment - defined as an economic unit under a single ownership or control which engages in one or predominantly one kind of economic activity at a single fixed location.

2. Labor Turnover – refers to the chan ges in the employment of an establishment resulting from accessions and separations.

3. Accessions (New Hires) - refer to permanent or temporary additions to employment in the establishment due to 1) expansion of business activity and 2) replacement of separated workers and employment resulting from changes in methods/technology of production or service.

4. Separations - refer to terminations of employment due to the following:  

a) quits or terminations initiated by employees; and
b) layoffs or terminations initiated by employers due to economic reasons (e.g., lack of market, financial losses, redundancy, end of contract) and non-economic reasons (e.g., gross negligence, AWOL).