Table A-1.  Results from the January 2023 Labor Force Survey (LFS)

Highlights of the January 2023 Labor Force Survey

1. Unemployment rate in January 2023 was estimated at 4.8 percent, translating to 2.37 million unemployed Filipinos. This estimated rate is lower than the unemployment rate reported in the same month in 2022 at 6.4 percent. (Table A)

2. The country’s employment rate was registered at 95.2 percent in January 2023, an increase from the 93.6 percent in January 2022. In terms of magnitude, employed persons increased by 4.09 million in January 2023 estimated at 47.35 million from 43.27 million in January 2022. The number of employed persons in January 2023 was also higher than the reported 47.11 million employed persons in October 2022. (Table A)

3. The labor force participation rate (LFPR) increased to 64.5 percent in January 2023, equivalent to 49.72 million Filipinos in the labor force. The reported LFPR in January 2023 was higher than the reported LFPR in January 2022 and in October 2022 at 60.5 percent and 64.2 percent, respectively. (Table A)

4. The number of underemployed persons or the employed persons who 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 hours of work was registered at 6.65 million, translating to an underemployment rate of 14.1 percent in January 2023. This was lower than the reported rate in January 2022 (14.9%) and in October 2022 (14.2%). (Table A)

5. The average weekly hours worked by an employed person in January 2023 was estimated at 39.5 hours, from 40.2 and 41.8 hours per week in October 2022 and January 2022, respectively. (Table A)

6. By broad industry group, services sector continued to account for the largest share of employed person with 60.7 percent of the total employed persons in January 2023. The agriculture sector and industry sectors accounted for  22.2 percent and 17.1 percent of the total employed persons, respectively. (Table 1) 

The following are the top five sectors with the highest year-on-year increase in the number of employed person in January 2023:

a. Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.53 million);  
b. Agriculture and forestry (960 thousand);  
c. Accommodation and food service activities (549 thousand);  
d. Transportation and storage (303 thousand); and  
e. Other service activities (203 thousand).

In contrast, the three sectors that exhibited drop in the number of employed persons from January 2022 to January 2023 were as follows:  
a. Construction (-334 thousand);  
b. Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (-34 thousand); and  
c. Professional, scientific and technical activities (-19 thousand).

In terms of quarter-on-quarter changes in the number of employed persons from October 2022 to January 2023, the top five sub-sectors with the highest increase were the following:

a. Accommodation and food service activities (206 thousand);  
b. Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (178 thousand);  
c. Public administration and defense, compulsory social security (125 thousand);  
d. Transportation and storage (95 thousand); and  
e. Information and communication (79 thousand).

On the other hand, the following are the top five sub-sectors with biggest drop in the number of employed persons from October 2022 to January 2023:

a. Construction (-557 thousand);  
b. Fishing and aquaculture (-54 thousand);  
c. Agriculture and forestry (-38 thousand);  
d. Mining and quarrying (-20 thousand); and  
e. Financial and insurance activities (-7 thousand). (Table B)

7. Wage and salary workers contributed the largest share of employed persons with 62.3 percent in January 2023. This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.1 percent and unpaid family workers at 8.1 percent. Employer in own family-operated farm or business has the lowest share at 2.6 percent.

Among wage ang salary workers, employed persons in private establishments made up 48.5 percentage points, followed by employed in government and government-owned and controlled corporations at 9.2 percentage points. (Table 1)

8. Six regions recorded LFRP higher than the national average of 64.5 percent in January 2023. These were Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (73.2%), Caraga (70.1%), Region XII (69.1%), Region X (68.6%), Region IX (65.2%), and Region VII (65.0%).

9. By region, five regions registered unemployment rates higher than the national rate of 4.8 percent in January 2023, namely: Region V (6.6%), CALABARZON (5.9%), National Capital Region (5.7%), Region VI (5.6%), and Caraga (5.0%). (Table 4)

10. Youth LFPR in January 2023 increased to 34.8 percent from 32.0 percent reported in January 2022. Employment rate among youth increased by 3.0 percentage points from 86.2 percent in January 2022 to 89.2 percent in January 2023. Employed youth worked on the average of 33.7 hours per week in January 2023, a decline from the 39.1 hours worked per week in January 2022. (Table A)

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