Table A-1. Results from the February 2022 Labor Force Survey (LFS)
| Philippines | February 2021F | January 2022P | February 2022P |
| Labor Force Participation Rate (%) | 63.5 | 60.5 | 63.8 |
| Employment Rate (%) | 91.2 | 93.6 | 93.6 |
| Underemployment Rate (%) | 18.2 | 14.9 | 14.0 |
| Unemployment Rate (%) | 8.8 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| Notes: F Final P Estimates are preliminary and may change Preliminary Estimates for January 2022 excludes Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Islands Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, Labor Force Survey | |||
Highlights of the February 2022 Labor Force Survey
a. The country’s unemployment rate in February 2022 remained the same as the 6.4 percent reported a month ago. This is lower than the unemployment rate of 8.8 percent in the same month in 2021. (Table A)
b. In terms of magnitude, this is translated to 3.13 million unemployed individuals 15 years old and over. This is lower by 1.06 million unemployed Filipinos compared to February 2021. (Table A)
c. The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in February 2022 was estimated at 63.8 percent, higher than the LFPR in January 2022 (60.5%) and February 2021 (63.5%). The 63.8 percent LFPR in February 2022 is translated to 48.61 million Filipinos who are either employed or unemployed out of the
d. The number of employed persons increased by 2.33 million from 43.15 million in February 2021 to 45.48 million in the same month this year. Employment rate in February this year was placed at 93.6 percent, higher than the 91.2 percent reported for the same period last year. (Tables 2 and A)
e. Employed persons worked on an average of 40.8 hours per week in February 2022. This is higher than the reported 38.9 hours in February 2021 but lower than the recorded 41.8 hours in January 2022. (Tables 2 and A)
f. Underemployed persons in February 2022 were accounted at 6.38 million of the total 45.48 million employed individuals. This translates to an underemployment rate of 14.0 percent. Underemployed persons are persons who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job or to have a new job with longer hours of work. (Table A)
Visible underemployment rate or the proportion of underemployed persons working less than 40 hours in a week was reported at 9.2 percent in
On the other hand, invisible underemployment rate or the proportion of underemployed persons working at least 40 hours in a week was placed at 4.8 percent in February 2022, lower than the estimated invisible underemployment rate in February 2021 (5.7%) and in January 2022 (5.9%). (Table A)
g. By sex, men had higher LFPR at 75.7 percent than women at 51.8 percent. Further, men had higher employment rate (94.1%) than women (92.8%). Moreover, underemployment rate was higher among men at 15.2 percent compared to 12.2 percent among women. (Table D)
h. By broad industry group, the services sector continued to lead all sectors having the largest share of employed persons with 58.2 percent. The share of employed persons in agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 23.9 percent and 17.9 percent, respectively. (Tables 1 and B)
In terms of month-on-month changes in the number of employed persons from January 2022 to February 2022, the top five sub-sectors with the highest increase were the following:
a. Agriculture and forestry (1.44 million);
b. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.07 million);
c. Accommodation and food service activities (145 thousand);
d. Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (116 thousand); and
e. Human health and social work activities (108 thousand).
In contrast, the top five sub-sectors with largest drop in employment from January 2022 to February 2022 were as follows:
a. Administrative and support service activities (-263 thousand)
b. Manufacturing (-235 thousand);
c. Financial and insurance activities (-57 thousand);
d. Arts, entertainment and recreation (-48 thousand); and
e. Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities
(-44 thousand).
Furthermore, the year-on-year changes in the number of employed individuals from February 2021 to February 2022, showed increase in these top five sub-sectors:
a. Agriculture and forestry (543 thousand);
b. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
(445 thousand);
c. Accommodation and food service activities (375 thousand);
d. Construction (301 thousand); and
e. Administrative and support service activities (263 thousand).
However, from February 2021 to February 2022, only four sub-sectors reported a decline in the number of employed persons. These are as follows:
a. Other service activities (-136 thousand);
b. Education (-124 thousand);
c. Financial and insurance activities (-77 thousand); and
d. Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities
(-30 thousand).
(Tables 2 and B)
i. Youth labor force participation rate (LFPR) in February 2022 was estimated at 35.9 percent out of the 20.15 million youth population who are
j. Youth employment rate was reported at 85.7 percent. This is higher than the reported employment rate in February 2021 (81.5%) but lower than the recorded employment rate in January 2022 (86.2%). Employed youth in February 2022 worked on an average of 38.0 hours per week, higher than the average 37.2 hours a week reported in the same month of 2021. (Table A)
DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General
