Summary:

• The number of persons in the labor force, or those who are either employed or unemployed was registered at 35.1 million, resulting to a labor force participation rate (LFPR) of 64.8 percent in April 2005.
• The national employment rate was recorded at 91.7 percent in April this year.
  • Employed persons in the services sector reached 16.0 million in April this year, while those in the agriculture and industry sectors were estimated at 11.0 and 5.2 million, respectively.
• The unemployment rate was estimated at 8.3 percent in April this year.
  • Almost half (49.0%) of the total unemployed were 15-24 years old.
• Underemployment rate was estimated at 26.1 percent in April this year.

HIGHLIGHTS

Of the population 15 years old and over, there were those who were in the labor force and those who were not...

• The number of persons in the labor force, or those who were either employed or unemployed was registered at 35.1 million in April 2005.
• The labor force participation rate (LFPR) or the proportion of the labor force to the working age population reached 64.8 percent in April 2005.
• The highest LFPR was recorded in Northern Mindanao at 72.5 percent and lowest in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 58.0 percent.

The employed persons in April 2005 . . .

• The number of employed persons in April 2005 was registered at 32.2 million, translating to an employment rate of 91.7 percent.
• Among regions, Region VIII (Eastern Visayas) posted the highest employment rate at 96.3 percent. This was followed by Region II (Cagayan Valley) and ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), registering both at 96.1 percent.
• The lowest employment rate was recorded in NCR (National Capital Region) at 85.6 percent. Region III (Central Luzon) came next at 88.6 percent.

Of the employed persons, there were those either working in agriculture, industry or services...

• Of the 32.2 million employed persons in April 2005, around 16.0 million (49.6%) were employed in the services sector, 11.0 million (34.1%) were in agriculture sector and the rest (16.3%) were in the industry sector.
• Employed persons in wholesale & retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles & personal & household goods comprised the largest number of employed persons in the services sector at 6.4 million. Transport, storage and communication came next at 2.4 million.
• Of the 5.2 million employed persons in the industry sector, manufacturing sub-sector employed the largest number at 3.2 million; construction sub-sector came next at 1.8 million.
• Employment in the agriculture, hunting and forestry sub-sector comprised the bulk of total employed at 9.6 million.

The employed by occupation...

• Occupation-wise, laborers and unskilled workers comprised the largest number of employed workers. In April 2005, about 9.9 million (30.7%) were laborers and unskilled workers. Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen and officials of government and special interest organizations, corporate executives, managers, managing proprietors and supervisors followed, contributing 18.4 percent and 12.2 percent to total employment, respectively. 

Of the employed persons, there were those who were paid wages and salaries, worked on their account, or worked for the family...

• Categorized by class of worker, half of the country's employed workforce are wage and salary workers accounting for 50.6 percent of the total workforce. Almost three-fourths or 74.4 percent of the total wage and salary workers worked in private establishments, 15.4 percent in government/government corporation, 9.1 percent in private households and the rest worked in family owned business.
• Own-account workers comprised 38.2 percent of the total employed while unpaid family workers had the least share at 11.2 percent.
• In terms of levels, the number of wage and salary workers was estimated at 16.3 million, own-account workers at 12.3 million and unpaid family workers at 3.6 million.

The employed by number of hours worked...

• Full-time workers or those who worked for 40 hours or more reached 20.1 million or 62.3 percent of the total employed.
• On the other hand, 11.5 million or 35.8 percent of the total employed worked for less than 40 hours in April 2005.

Of the employed, there were those who desired more hours of work -- the underemployed...

• The number of underemployed persons or those who desired additional hours of work was estimated at 8.4 million in April 2005. This was 26.1 percent of the total employed. -About 4.6 million of the total underemployed persons worked for less than 40 hours during the past week of the survey period in April 2005, while 3.9 million or 45.6 percent of the total underemployed were full time workers.
• More workers in the services sector (41.8%) were underemployed or wanted to have additional hours of work. Most of them are wage and salary workers (56.0%) and own-account workers (39.3%).

The unemployed persons in April 2005....

• The number of unemployed persons in April 2005 was recorded at 2.9 million. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent.
• Of the 2.9 million unemployed persons, 61.6 percent are males while 38.4 percent are females.
• About 49.0 percent were young unemployed, that is, those belonging to the ages of 15 to 24 years old. There were 28.3 percent who were 25 to 34 years old. The rest of the unemployed (30.0%) were 35 years and older.
• Across regions, the National Capital Region recorded the highest unemployment rate of 14.4 percent.
• Other regions that exhibited a double - digit unemployment rate aside from NCR were Region III (Central Luzon) at 11.4 percent and Region IV-A (CALABARZON) at 11.1 percent.

Unemployed Persons by Highest Grade Completed

• A greater proportion of the 2.9 million unemployed persons have reached at most high school education (1.3 million or 43.8%). Another 461 thousand (15.8%) have reached only the elementary level.
• About 1.1 million (39.5%) unemployed persons have actually completed college education.

Among the unemployed, there were those who have actually looked for work in April 2005 . . .

• Of the 2.9 million unemployed persons in April 2005, about 1.4 million unemployed persons looked for work at anytime during the past week of the survey period.
• Among the 2.9 million unemployed persons who looked for work, a number of them approached employers directly or approached relatives or friends (34.8%). About 20.7 percent sought the assistance of employment agencies while 8.4 percent placed or answered advertisements.

More than half of the unemployed persons looked for work for less than four weeks. . .

• Of the 1.4 million unemployed persons who looked for work, 809 thousand or 58.8 percent had looked for work for less than four (4) weeks.
• There were about 383 thousand or 27.8 percent who looked for work for 4 to 9 weeks and only three percent looked for work for more than 30 weeks.

...and there were those who did not look for work because of certain reasons ...

• Of the 2.9 million unemployed persons in April 2005, about 1.5 million unemployed persons (52.7%) did not look for work during the past week of the survey period in April 2005.
• Around 656 thousand or 42.8 percent of the total unemployed persons did not look for work because of their belief that no work is available or they were already tired of looking for work. Almost one-fourth (22.8%) of the unemployed did not look for work because they were waiting for the results of previous job applications, 339 thousand or 22.1 percent were waiting to be rehired and 183 thousand or 11.9 percent were disabled or had temporary illness.

The discouraged workers in April 2005 . . .

• The total number of discouraged workers was estimated at 656 thousand in April 2005. These are the unemployed persons who believed that there were no jobs available.
• More than half of the discouraged workers were male comprising 69.8 percent of the total discouraged worker. They belonged to age group 15-24 years old (48.5 percent) and were single (446 thousand or 68.0% percent). A greater proportion had completed high school education (207 thousand or 31.6 percent) and were either sons or daughters of the household head (61.1 percent).

Those not in the Labor Force in April 2005 . . .

• Of the total persons not in the labor force, females (71.0 %) outnumbered males (29.0%).
• By age group, persons 15 to 24 years old and 25 to 34 years old posted the highest proportion, 43.5 percent and 17.5 percent, respectively.
• Most of those not in the labor force were either married (48.8%) or single (42.5%).
• High school graduates accounted for 24.0 percent, the highest among those not in the labor force.
• Persons not in the labor force were mostly the spouse (33.1 percent) or son /daughter (38.4 percent) of the household head. Household heads accounted for 13.3 percent of the total persons who were not in the labor force.

Comparison with the old unemployment series

• Relating to the old definition of unemployment, (that is considering only 2 criteria (1) without work and (2) looking for work including those not seeking work with valid reasons), unemployment rate for April 2005 was registered at 12.9 percent, a decrease of 0.8 percentage point from last years' 13.7 percent. The unemployment level was reported at 4.786 million in April 2005 compared to 5.002 million in April 2004.

(Sgd.)CARMELITA N. ERICTA

Administrator

Technical Notes

• Starting with the July 2003 round of the Labor Force Survey, the generation of the labor force and employment statistics adopted the 2003 Master Sample Design.
• Using this new master sample design, the number of samples increased from 41,000 to around 51,000 sample households.
• The province of Basilan is grouped under Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao while Isabela City (Basilan) is now grouped under Region IX, in accordance with Executive Order No.36.
• The 1992 four-digit code for Philippine Standard Occupational Classification (PSOC) and 1994 Philippine Standard Industry Classification (PSIC) were used in classifying the occupation and industry.
• Starting April 2005, the new unemployment definition was adopted per NSCB Resolution no. 15 dated October 20, 2004. As indicated in the said resolution, the unemployed include all persons who are 15 years old and over as of their last birthday and are reported as:

1.) without work and currently available for work and seeking work; OR

2.) without work and currently available for work but not seeking work for the following reasons:

• Tired/believe no work available
• Awaiting results of previous job application
• Temporary illness/disability
• Bad weather
• Waiting for rehire/job recall.

Source:        Income and Employment Statistics Division

Household Statistics Department

National Statistics Office

Manila, Philippines

Page last revised: June 15, 2005