Highlights of the November 2022 Labor Force Survey
The unemployment rate in the country in November 2022 was posted at 4.2 percent from 4.5 percent in October 2022 and 6.5 percent in November 2021. The estimated unemployment rate in November 2022 was the lowest since April 2005.
In terms of magnitude, about 2.18 million were unemployed in November 2022. This was lower than the reported unemployed persons in October 2022 of 2.24 million and in November 2021 of 3.16 million.
The employment rate was placed at 95.8 percent in November 2022, the highest recorded employment rate since April 2005. In terms of levels, there were 49.71 million persons 15 years old and over who were employed in November 2022, 47.11 million in October 2022 and 45.47 million in November 2021.
The country’s labor force participation rate (LFPR) picked-up at 67.5 percent in November 2022, the highest LFPR since April 2005. This LFPR translates to about 51.88 million Filipinos 15 years old and over who were either employed or unemployed.
The average weekly hours worked of an employed person in November 2022 slid to 39.3, from 40.2 and 39.6 hours per week in October 2022 and November 2021, respectively.
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 7.16 million, translating to an underemployment rate of 14.4 percent. This was lower than the reported rate in November 2021 (16.8%) but higher than the reported rate in October 2022 (14.2%).
By sex, male LFPR was estimated at 77.0 percent, while female LFPR was 57.8 percent. Employment rate was higher among females at 95.9 percent than their male counterpart at 95.7 percent. Moreover, underemployment rate among males (16.1%) was higher than for females (12.1%). The unemployment rate among females was lower at 4.1 percent of 22.17 million total female labor force than their male counterpart at 4.3 percent of the total 29.71 million male labor force.
By sector, the services sector continued to dominate the employment market, having the largest share of employed persons of about 60.5 percent. The agriculture and the industry sectors accounted for 21.4 percent and 18.1 percent of the employed persons, respectively.
The top five sub-sectors with the highest month-on-month increase in the number of employed persons in November 2022 were the following:
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (941 thousand);
Manufacturing (668 thousand);
Accommodation and food service activities (381 thousand);
Agriculture and forestry (247 thousand); and
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (203 thousand).
On the other hand, the top five sub-sectors with the highest drop in the number of employed persons from October 2022 to November 2022 were as follows:
Construction (-408 thousand);
Fishing and aquaculture (-211 thousand);
Transportation and storage (-39 thousand);
Administrative and support service activities (-8 thousand) and;
Mining and quarrying (-4 thousand).
In terms of year-on-year change in the number of employed persons in November 2022, the top five sub-sectors with the highest increase were the following:
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.31 million);
Manufacturing (975 thousand);
Accommodation and food service activities (750 thousand);
Transportation and storage (491 thousand); and
Administrative and support service activities (376 thousand).
In contrast, there were five sub-sectors with annual declines in employment which were as follows:
Fishing and aquaculture (-532 thousand);
Education (-45 thousand);
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (-40 thousand); and
Construction (-30 thousand).
Youth labor force in November 2022 was estimated at 8.05 million of the 20.14 million youth population 15 to 24 years old. This translates to a Youth LFPR of 40.0 percent, which was higher than the posted youth LFPR in November 2021 and October 2022 of 37.5 percent and 34.2 percent, respectively.
Source: PSA