Central Visayas among regions with most number of employees

CEBU, Philippines — Central Visayas is one of the six regions which recorded a labor force participation rate (LFPR) that is higher than the national average, latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed.

LFPR is defined by PSA as the “percentage of the total number of persons in the labor force to the total population 15 years old and over.”

The national average of LFPR is at 64.5 percent in January 2023 which is 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.

Central Visayas, for its part, has 65 percent LFPR, which is higher than the national average.

Aside from Region VII, the other regions with higher LFPR include the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 73.2 percent, Caraga (70.1 percent), Region XII (69.1 percent), Region X (68.6 percent), Region IX (65.2 percent).

By region, five regions registered unemployment rates higher than the national rate of 4.8 percent in January 2023 – these include Regions V (6.6 percent), CALABARZON (5.9 percent), National Capital Region (5.7 percent), Region VI (5.6 percent), and Caraga (5.0 percent).

Youth LFPR in January 2023 increased to 34.8 percent from 32 percent reported in January 2022 while the employment rate among youth increased by 3 percentage points from 86.2 percent in January 2022 to 89.2 percent in January 2023 with each employed youth working an average of 33.7 hours per week in January 2023, a decline from the 39.1 hours worked per week in January 2022.

Aside from that, the PSA showed that in its January 2023 Labor Force Survey, the unemployment rate in the country is 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.

The country’s employment rate was registered at 95.2 percent in January 2023, an increase from 93.6 percent in January 2022.

While the number of underemployed persons or employed persons who expressed the 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 was registered at 6.65 million, translating to an underemployment rate of 14.1 percent in January 2023.

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.

The services sector continued to account for the largest share of employed persons with 60.7 percent of the total employed persons in January 2023 while the agriculture sector has 22.2 percent and industry sectors accounted for 17.1 percent of the total employed persons, respectively.

Wage and salary workers contributed the largest share of employed persons with 62.3 percent in January 2023. — GAN (FREEMAN)