The current employment definition used in the LFS is presented in the Technical Notes of this report. This definition was adopted per NSCB Resolution No. 15 dated October 20, 2004.

For comparative purposes, the July 2009 results are presented in the textual tables alongside with the estimates for the July 2008 survey round.

About 65 percent of the population 15 years and over are in the labor force

The July 2009 LFS registered a labor force participation rate (LFPR) of 64.6 percent. The size of the labor force in July 2009 was approximately 38.4 million out of the estimated 59.5 million population 15 years old and over. The LFPR was highest in Region X (Northern Mindanao) at 71.2 percent and lowest in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) at 59.0 percent.

Employment rate registers at 92.4 percent

The estimated employment rate for July 2009 was 92.4 percent which is not significantly different from the July 2008 rate of 92.6 percent.

Employment rates in the National Capital Region (NCR) (87.9%), Central Luzon (90.1%) and CALABARZON (88.9%) were lower than the national employment rate. As in previous LFS, the NCR recorded the lowest employment rate at 87.9 percent. Cagayan Valley recorded the highest employment rate of 97.2 percent followed by ARMM and Zamboanga Peninsula with 96.5 and 95.9 percent.

Employed males outnumber employed females

Six in ten (60.5%) of the employed population in July 2009 were males.

One in four (26.4%) of employed persons was in the age group 25 to 34 years. The 35 to 44 year age group comprised the second largest group, making up 23.3 percent of the total employed, followed by the 45 to 54 age group with 17.7 percent.

More than half of the total employed are in the services sector

Of the estimated 35.5 million employed in July 2009, more than half (51.5%) worked in the services sector with those employed in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods sub-sector comprising the largest sub-sector (18.9% of the total employed). Workers in agriculture sector accounted for 33.6 percent of the total employed, with workers in the agriculture, hunting and forestry making up the largest sub-sector (29.5% of the total employed). Only 14.9 percent of the total employed were in the industry sector.

One-third of employed population are laborers and unskilled workers

Among the various occupation groups, laborers and unskilled workers comprised the largest proportion (33.0%) of the total employed population. Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen were the second largest group, accounting for 16.1 percent of the total employed population.

More than half of total employed are wage and salary workers

Employed persons fall into any of these three categories: wage and salary workers, own account workers and unpaid family workers. Wage and salary workers are those who work for private establishments, government or government corporations and those who work with pay in own-family operated farm or business. More than half (55.3%) of the employed persons were wage and salary workers, more than one-third (33.9%) were own-account workers, and 10.8 percent were unpaid family workers. Among the wage and salary workers, those working for private establishments comprised the largest proportion (40.8% of the total employed). Government workers and those working for the government corporations comprised 8.2% of the total employed, while 6.0 percent were workers in private households. Meanwhile, among the own-account workers, the self-employed comprised 29.5 percent of the total employed.

Among the own-account workers, those in the services (47% of the total own-account) and the agricultural (46.6%) sectors made up the largest percentage. Among the unpaid family workers seven in ten were in the agriculture sector.

Two-thirds of employed persons work full-time

Employed persons are classified as either full-time 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. Around 65 percent of the total employed persons in July 2009 were full-time workers with those working for 40 to 48 hours making up a larger proportion (40.7% of the total employed) than those working more than 48 hours (24.2% of the total employed). Part-time workers comprised 34.1 percent of the total employed.

One in every five employed workers want more hours of work

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 was estimated at 7.0 million in July 2009. This represented 19.8 percent of the total employed. Last year’s estimate was 7.3 million.

Forty four percent of the underemployed were in the agriculture sector, 40.3 percent were in the services sector while those in the industry sector, 15.6 percent. Of the underemployed, those considered as visibly underemployed, or had been working for less than 40 hours a week accounted for 54.5 percent.

Unemployment rate is 7.6 percent in July 2009

The unemployment rate in July 2009 was estimated at 7.6 percent. Among the regions, the highest unemployment rate was recorded in the NCR at 12.1 percent. The next highest rates were posted in CALABARZON (11.1%) and Central Luzon (9.9%).

For every 10 unemployed, five (52.8%) were in the age group 15 to 24 years, while about three (28.0%) were in the age group 25 to 34.

Across educational groups, among the unemployed, high school graduates comprised one-third (33.0%). The college undergraduates comprised about one-fifth (21.4%), while the college graduates, 19.6 percent.

Three in every ten persons not in the labor force are males

The number of persons not in the labor force like housewives, students, persons with disability, and retirees was approximately 21.0 million in July 2009. This number comprised 35.4 percent of the total population 15 years old and over. Three in every ten persons who were not in the labor force were males.

By age group, the majority of males who were not in the labor force were below 25 years of age; that is, 19.2 percent were 15 to 24 years old and 4.1 percent were 65 years old and over.

SUMMARY

The number of persons in the labor force, or those who are either employed or unemployed was estimated at 38.4 million in July 2009, resulting to a labor force participation rate of 64.6 percent.

The national employment rate was recorded at 92.4 percent in July this year.

More than half (51.5%) of the employed persons worked in the services sector, 33.6 percent in the agricultural sector and 14.9 percent in the industry sector.

The number of employed persons in the services sector increased by 5.4 percent in July 2009 from 17.4 million in July 2008 to 18.3 million this year.

Wage and salary workers accounted for more than one-half (55.3%) of the total employed persons.

One-third of the employed population are laborers and skilled workers.

More than half (54.5%) of the total underemployed were reported to had been working for less than 40 hours a week.