Highlights of the November 2021 Labor Force Survey

a. The country’s unemployment rate of 6.5 percent in November was the lowest since January 2021. The second lowest was in July 2021 at 6.9 percent, while the third lowest was in March 2021 at 7.1 percent. Unemployment rate was highest in the month September 2021 at 8.9 percent. (Table A)

b. In terms of magnitude, the total number of unemployed persons in November 2021 was 3.16 million. It was lower by 345 thousand from the total unemployed persons reported in October 2021 (3.50 million).     (Table A)

c. The labor force participation rate (LFPR) in November 2021 was estimated at 64.2 percent, translating to 48.64 million individuals aged 15 years old and above who were either employed or unemployed. This LFPR was higher than the LFPR reported from January to October 2021 except in March and June 2021, both at 65.0 percent, and May 2021 (64.6%). Labor Force posted a month-on-month increment of 1.31 million individuals from the 47.33 million reported in October 2021. (Table A)

d. The country’s employment rate picked-up in November 2021 to 93.5 percent, the highest reported since the start of 2021. This was equivalent to 45.48 million employed persons. In October, it was 43.83 million, and in September, 43.59 million. (Tables 2 and A)

e. The average weekly hours worked of an employed person was reduced to 39.6 hours per week in November 2021 from 39.7 hours per week in October 2021, 40.2 hours per week in September 2021, and 41.8 hours per week in July 2021. (Tables 2 and A)

f. Underemployment rate which is the proportion of the underemployed to the total employed was registered at 16.7 percent. This was higher than the October 2021 estimate of 16.1 percent but lower than the 20.9 percent reported in July 2021. Underemployed persons are employed persons who expressed 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)

By sector, the Services sector consistently has the largest share of underemployed persons. In November 2021, 49.1 percent of underemployed persons worked in the services sector, while 34.4 percent worked in the agriculture sector. On the other hand, those who worked in the industry sector accounted for 16.5 percent. (Table 3)

Visible underemployment rate or the proportion of those persons 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, to the total employed, was estimated at 11.5 percent, higher than the 10.7 percent in October 2021.

On the other hand, invisibly underemployed rate or the proportion of those persons 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, to the total employed, was estimated at 5.2 percent. (Table A)

g. The number of employed persons reported to have job but not at work was placed at 535 thousand or 1.2 percent of the 45.48 million employed individuals. This (1.2%) was higher than the 1.0 percent reported in October 2021 but lower than 1.5 percent reported in September 2021.  (Tables 2 and B)

h. In terms of sex disaggregation, LFPR in November 2021 was higher among men at 76.1 percent compared to women at 52.3 percent. Likewise, employment rate for men was higher at 93.6 percent compared to women at 93.3 percent for the same period. Moreover, men had higher underemployment rate at 18.3 percent than their women counterpart at 14.4 percent. (Table D)

i. By broad industry group, the services sector dominated all sectors having the largest share of employed persons with 58.1 percent. The agriculture and the industry sectors contributed 24.5 percent and 17.4 percent of the employed persons, respectively. (Tables 1 and B)

Month-on-month changes from October 2021 to November 2021 showed the top five sub-sectors with increased number of employed persons:

a. Fishing and aquaculture (355 thousand);
b. Other service activities (323 thousand);
c. Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (292 thousand);
d. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (282 thousand); and
e. Education (145 thousand). (Table 2A)

On the other hand, month-on-month changes from October 2021 to November 2021 also showed the top five sub-sectors with drop in employment:

a. Human health and social work activities (-98 thousand);
b. Mining and quarrying (-35 thousand);
c. Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (-31 thousand);
d. Financial and insurance activities (-28 thousand); and
e. Administrative and support service activities (-16 thousand). (Tables 1 and B)

j. Youth labor force participation rate (LFPR) in November 2021 was registered at 37.5 percent. This was higher than the youth LFPR reported in October 2021 at 35.7 percent.

Youth employment rate in November 2021 was estimated at 86.6 percent, the highest to be reported in 2021. Underemployment rate among youth was placed at 16.6 percent or 1.09 million of the 6.52 million employed youth. For the month of November 2021, employed youth worked on an average of 36.1 hours per week. Youth unemployment rate in November 2021 was the lowest reported during the year at 13.4 percent. (Table A)

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