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 (2) currently available for work; AND (3) seeking work OR not seeking work due to valid reasons.
Summary:
| Philippines | January 2006 |
| Total 15 years old and over (in '000) |
55,248 |
| Labor Force (in 000) Labor Force Participation Rate (%) |
35,224 63.8 |
| Employment (in '000) Employment Rate (%) |
32,384 91.9 |
| Unemployment (in 000) Unemployment Rate (%) |
2,840 8.1 |
| Underemployment (in 000) Underemployment Rate (%) |
6,895 21.3 |
Note: Estimates are preliminary results and subject to change.
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The labor force population in January 2006 was registered at 35.2 million. This translates to a labor force participation rate (LFPR) of 63.8 percent.
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Total employment in January 2006 was 32.4 million, resulting to national employment rate of 91.9 percent.
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The agriculture, fishery and forestry sector posted the highest increase in employment at 475 thousand. Employment in this sector grew by 4.2 percent, from 11.4 million in January 2005 to 11.8 million in January 2006.
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Employment also grew in services sector with all sectors registering positive employment growth except health and social work, which declined by 8.4 percent, from 382 thousand in January 2005 to 350 thousand in January 2006.
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On the other hand, employment in the industry sector registered a negative growth of 95 thousand, from 4.977 million in January 2005 to 4.882 million this year.
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Total unemployed persons numbered 2.8 million in January 2006, which translates to an unemployment rate of 8.1 percent.
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The incidence of underemployment went up to 21.3 percent in January 2006 from 16.1 percent a year ago.
HIGHLIGHTS
Better employment situation seen this quarter...
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The Philippine labor market continued to improve as the employment level grew by 2.4 percent or 750 thousand in January 2006 over the recorded level of 31.6 million in January last year.
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The bulk of increase was seen in agriculture sector with 4.2 percent change from 11.4 million in January 2005 to 11.8 million in January 2006.
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Services employment posted a 373 thousand increase with all sectors registering positive employment growth except health and social work which recorded a decrease of 32 thousand.
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Employment in the industry sector registered a decline in all sub-sectors except electricity, gas and water. Construction posted the highest decrease in employment at 73 thousand.
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Full time workers or those who worked for 40 hours or more slightly increased by 0.9 percent to 20.0 million while part time workers or those who worked for less than 40 hours increased by 651 thousand or 5.7 percent to 12.0 million.
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Across regions, Cagayan Valley recorded the highest employment rate at 96.8 percent while the National Capital Region reported the lowest at 85.0 percent.
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The increase in agriculture (475 thousand) was due to the increase in unpaid family workers (314 thousand).
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Growth was seen among all the class of workers, with the unpaid family workers (389 thousand) who were mostly in the agriculture sector (314 thousand) reporting the biggest gain. The own-account workers likewise reported a positive growth with 263 thousand increase. The small increase among wage and salary workers (98 thousand) can be traced to the decrease within the industry sector particularly among the construction (75 thousand) and manufacturing (38 thousand) sub-sectors where many wage and salary workers were found. The number of wage and salary workers in the services sector increased by 158 thousand although the number in the transport, storage and communications and health and social work sector decreased by 52 thousand and 32 thousand, respectively.
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Occupation-wise, the share of laborers and unskilled workers posted the biggest increase both in levels and percent share (382 thousand and 0.46 percentage point, respectively).
Sharp rise in underemployment reported this quarter . . .
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The number of underemployed persons or those who desired additional hours of work increased by 1.8 million at 6.9 million in January 2006 from 5.1 million a year ago. Thus, the rate of underemployment (21.3%) edged up 5.2 percentage points from 16.1 percent in January 2006.
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Of the total underemployed persons, about 4.2 million were in part time work in January 2006 while 2.5 million were in full time employment.
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Among the 6.9 million underemployed, the largest proportion was in the agriculture sector with 47.2 percent, followed by those in the services sector with 37.8 percent. Majority of the underemployed agricultural workers were part time workers (75.5%)
Labor Force participation rate remained at two-thirds share of the total population ...
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The total labor force in January 2006 was estimated at 35.2 million, translating to a labor force participation rate of 63.8 percent.
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Relatively, almost one-third of the population 15 years old and over in January 2006 (36.2%) were not in the labor force, like housewives, disabled, students, and retired persons.
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Females dominated the population not in the labor force with a 71.6 percent contribution while males with 28.4 percent.
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Majority of persons who were not in the labor force belong to the younger age groups, that is, 44.9 percent were 15 to 24 years old and 17.1 percent were 25 to 34 years old.
Unemployment reported at 8.1 percent in January 2006...
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Total unemployed persons numbered 2.8 million in January 2006, which translates to an unemployment rate of 8.1 percent.
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Among the total unemployed persons, around 48.4 percent were 15-24 years old while the rest were 25 years old and over.
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In January 2006, there were 649 thousand unemployed persons who had been looking for work for less than four weeks. They represented 47.0 percent of the total unemployed persons looking for work.
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On the other hand, around 51.4 percent of the total unemployed persons did not look for work.
Comparison with the old unemployment series...
If the old definition of unemployment is used, (that is considering only two criteria: (1) without work and (2) looking for work including those not seeking work with valid reasons), the unemployment rate for January 2006 would register at 10.7 percent, a decrease of 0.6 percentage point from last year?s 11.3 percent. The unemployment level would be 3.9 million in January 2006 compared to 4.0 million in January 2005, also using the old definition.
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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.
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Using this new master sample design, the number of samples increased from 41,000 to around 51,000 sample households.
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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.
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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.
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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:
1.) Tired/believed no work available
2.) Awaiting results of previous job application
3.) Temporary illness/disability
4.) Bad Weather
5.) Waiting for rehire/job recall
