Highlights of the August 2021 Labor Force Survey

a. The country’s unemployment rate in August 2021 was estimated at 8.1 percent, or an increase of 1.2 percentage points from the 6.9 percent reported a month ago. The unemployment rate in August 2021 was lower than those reported in January, February, and April this year but it was higher than the rates in March 2021 (7.1%), May and June 2021 (7.7%), and in July 2021 (6.9%). (Table A)

b. Total number of unemployed persons in August 2021 was estimated at 3.88 million individuals 15 years old and over. (Table A)

c. The labor force participation rate (LFPR) in August 2021 picked up to 63.6 percent, translated to about 48.12 million Filipinos 15 years old and over who were either employed or unemployed. This was higher than the LFPR reported in January 2021 (60.5%), February 2021 (63.5%), April 2021 (63.2%), and July 2021 (59.8%). (Table A)

d. Employment rate in August 2021 dropped to 91.9 percent from the 93.1 percent in July 2021. In terms of magnitude, 44.23 million out of 48.12 million individuals in the labor force were employed. This was higher than the employment rate in April 2021 (91.3%) during which the National Capital Region Plus Bubble was under Enhanced Community Quarantine status. (Table A)

Employed persons reported with job but not at work was up to 0.9 percent from 0.7 percent in July 2021. (Table 2)

e. The average weekly hours worked by an employed person in August 2021 was reported at 39.6 hours per week. This was lower than the reported average weekly hours in July 2021 at 41.8 hours. (Tables A and 2) 

f. The number of underemployed persons decreased by 2.21 million, from 8.69 million in July 2021 to 6.48 million in August 2021. (Tables A and 3)

Underemployment rate was estimated at 14.7 percent this August 2021, the third lowest reported this year along with 12.3 percent in May 2021 and 14.2 percent in June 2021. (Table A)

Visibly underemployed or those working less than 40 hours in a week and expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours, was estimated at 10.4 percent of the total employed persons. This estimate was slightly lower than the reported in July 2021 at 10.8 percent. (Table A)

On the other hand, invisibly underemployed or those working at least 40 hours in a week but still expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours, was estimated at 4.2 percent of the total employed individuals. This was lower than the reported invisible underemployment rate in July 2021 at 10.0 percent. (Table A)

g. By broad industry group, the services sector consistently dominated the employment hub accounting for 56.0 percent of the total employed persons in August 2021. The agriculture and the industry sectors contributed 25.1 percent and 18.9 percent, respectively. (Table 1)

In terms of month-on-month changes in the number of employed persons, the top five subsectors that showed the biggest increase, with their corresponding increases, in employment from July to August 2021 were the following:

a. Agriculture and forestry (1.78 million);
b. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (992 thousand);
c. Manufacturing (169 thousand);
d. Other service activities (148 thousand)
e. Fishing and aquaculture (128 thousand).
(Tables B and 2)

On the other hand, the following were the top five subsectors with the biggest drop, with their corresponding decreases, in the number of employed persons from July to August 2021:

a. Education (-238 thousand);
b. Administrative and support service activities (-183 thousand);
c. Professional scientific technical activities (-110 thousand);
d. Construction (-85 thousand); and
e. Human health and social work activities (-83 thousand).
(Tables B and 2)

h. Among men and women, LFPR in August 2021 was higher for men (75.8%) than for women (51.4%). Similarly, employment rate was higher among men at 92.1 percent than among women at 91.7 percent. Underemployment rate among men (16.5%) was also higher than among women (11.8%).  (Table D)

i. Youth LFPR was higher at 37.8 percent in August 2021 than the 33.3 percent in July 2021. Youth employment rate was down to 84.0 percent in August 2021, from 84.6 percent in July 2021. Moreover, youth underemployment rate was lower at 12.9 percent than the July 2021 estimate of 19.0 percent. (Table A)

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General