Manila: The National Capital Region has recorded the lowest employment rate at 90.5 per cent among the country’s 17 regions, the National Statistics Office reported in its annual Labour Force Survey.
Results of the January 2013 Labour Force Survey (LFS) revealed that overall, there were approximately 37.94 million employed Filipinos in January 2013, translating to an employment rate of 92.9 per cent, which is similar to the employment rate reported in January 2012 (92.8 per cent).
Among the regions, Cagayan Valley and Zamboanga Peninsula had the highest employment rate of 96.7 and 96.6 per cent respectively.
The population, aged 15 years and over, was estimated at 63.7 million in January 2013. Out of this estimate, 40.8 million people were in the labour force, or were either employed or unemployed.
These figures resulted in a labour force participation rate (LFPR) of 64.1 per cent, which is similar to the LFPR recorded in January 2012 (64.2 per cent).
Northern Mindanao had the highest LFPR among the regions, with 68.5 per cent, while Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, one of the poorest regions in the country, had the lowest LFPR with 58.1 per cent.
Percentage
Of the estimated 37.94 million employed people in January 2013, the majority — 54 per cent — were working in the services sector. Among the workers in this sector, those engaged in wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles comprised the highest percentage or 18.9 per cent of the total employed.
Those who worked in the agriculture sector comprised the second largest group, making up 30.4 per cent of the total employed, while workers in the industry sector made up the smallest group, registering 15.5 per cent of the total employed. Workers in the industry sector were mostly in the manufacturing and construction sub-sectors, comprising 8.3 per cent and six per cent, respectively, of the total employed.
Labourers and unskilled workers constituted the largest group making up 32.8 per cent of the total employed in January 2013. Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen were the second largest group comprising 12.7 per cent of the total employed. This percentage is lower than that reported in January 2012 wherein farmers, forestry workers and fishermen comprised 15.6 per cent of the total employed.
According to Carmelita Ericta, National Statistics Office administrator, employed people fall into these categories: wage and salary workers, self-employed workers without any paid employee, employer 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 farms or businesses.