| Philippines | April 2012 1/ | April 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Population 15 years and over (in '000) 2/ | 62,842 | 61,778 |
| Labor Force Participation Rate (%) | 64.7 | 64.2 |
| Employment Rate (%) | 93.1 | 92.8 |
| Unemployment Rate (%) | 6.9 | 7.2 |
| Underemployment Rate (%) | 19.3 | 19.4 |
Notes: 1/ Estimates for April 2012 are preliminary and may change.
2/ Population 15 years and over is from the 2000 Census-based population projections.
The April 2012 Labor Force Survey (LFS) results revealed an employment rate of 93.1 percent. The employment rate reported in April 2011 was 92.8 percent. Among the regions, only the National Capital Region (NCR) had an employment rate below 90.0 percent.
Out of the estimated 62.8 million population 15 years old and over in April 2012, 40.6 million were in the labor force, compared to the estimated 39.7 million in April 2011. The labor force participation rate (LFPR) in April 2012 was 64.7 percent, while it was 64.2 percent in April 2011. Among the regions, only the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) recorded an LFPR lower than 60.0 percent.
The number of employed persons in April 2012 was estimated at 37.8 million. Those employed in the services sector comprised the largest group, making up more than half (51.4%) of the total employed. Of the employed persons in the services sector, those engaged in wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles accounted for the highest percentage (19.0% of total employed).
Workers in the agriculture sector comprised the second largest group, consisting one-third (33.0%) of the total employed. Only 15.6 percent of the total employed were in the industry sector, with the manufacturing sub-sector contributing the largest share in this sector (8.4% of the total employed).
Among the various occupation groups, the laborers and unskilled workers comprised the largest group making up 33.2 percent of the total employed persons in April 2012. Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen were the second largest group with 14.7 percent share.
Employed persons fall into any of these categories:wage and salary workers, self-employed workers without any paid employee, employers in own family-operated farm or business, and unpaid family workers. Wage and salary workers are those who work for private households, private establishments, government or government-controlled corporations, and those who work with pay in own family-operated farm or business. The majority (55.5%) of the total employed population in April 2012 were wage and salary workers, with the largest percentage (42.9% of total employed) working for private establishments. Those working for the government or government-controlled corporations accounted for only 8.0 percent and those working for private households, 4.3 percent. In April 2011, wage and salary workers accounted for 55.0 percent of the total employed.
Self-employed workers without paid employees comprised 29.3 percent of the total employed in April 2012. The unpaid family workers accounted for 11.9 percent of the total employed. Employers in own family-operated farm or business made up 3.3 percent.
Employed persons are classified as either full-time workers or part-time workers. Full-time workers are those who work for 40 hours or more while part-time workers work for less than 40 hours. Of the total employed persons in April 2012, 55.1 percent were working full time while 42.8 percent were part-time workers.
Employed persons who express 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 are considered underemployed. The number of underemployed persons in April 2012 was estimated at 7.3 million placing the underemployment rate at 19.3 percent, which is similar to the estimate for April 2011, which was 19.4 percent. The visibly underemployed persons or those working for less than 40 hours in April 2012 accounted for 63.9 percent of the total underemployed. Those working for 40 hours or more accounted for 33.7 percent. A large percentage of the underemployed were working in the agriculture sector (43.0%) and services sector (40.2%). The underemployed in the industry sector accounted for 16.8 percent.
The unemployment rate in April 2012 was estimated at 6.9 percent, which is not significantly different from the estimate for April 2011, which was 7.2 percent. NCR posted the highest unemployment rate at 10.4 percent. Among the unemployed, there were more males (62.3%) than females (37.7%). More than half (51.7%) of the unemployed were in age group 15-24 years.
Across educational groups, almost one-third (32.8%) of the unemployed were high school graduates, 13.8 percent were college undergraduates, while 21.0 percent were college graduates.
| (Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA Administrator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TECHNICAL NOTES
Starting July 2003, the Labor Force Survey (LFS) adopted the 2003 Master Sample Design, with a sample size of approximately 50,000 households.
Starting January 2012 LFS, the codes for industry adopted the 2009 Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC). Prior to this, codes for industry used the 1994 PSIC.
Additional codes for highest grade completed were incorporated in the January 2012 LFS questionnaire.
Question on vocational course was also introduced in the January 2012 LFS questionnaire.
Starting April 2005, the new unemployment definition was adopted per NSCB Resolution Number 15 dated October 20, 2004. As indicated in the said resolution, the unemployed include all persons who are 15 years 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
Starting with the January 2007 LFS round, the population projections based on the 2000 Census of Population and Housing was adopted to generate the labor force statistics. This is in compliance with NSCB Resolution No. 1 series of 2005 entitled "Adoption of the Methodology Used in Generating the 2000 Census of Population and Housing-Based National Population Projections". .
Source: Income and Employment Statistics Division
Household Statistics Department
National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines
