NSCB Resolution No.

9
Series of 2009
APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE OFFICIAL METHODOLOGY
FOR GENERATING ANNUAL LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT ESTIMATES
WHEREAS, labor and employment statistics are significant indicators of the countrys socioeconomic status;
WHEREAS, per Executive Order No. 352 Designation of Statistical Activities that will Generate Critical Data for
Decision-making of the Government and the Private Sector, the National Statistics Office (NSO) is mandated to
generate/release the countrys official employment statistics every quarter, through the conduct of the Labor Force
Survey (LFS);
WHEREAS, there is a need for official annual labor and employment statistics, which are deemed useful for targeting
and planning purposes such as monitoring of employment situation on an annual basis and regular submissions to
international agencies like the International Labor Organization (ILO);
WHEREAS, in view of the need for a methodology/approach for generating annual labor and employment statistics,
10 consultative meetings were conducted: eight meetings of the Interagency Committee on Labor and Productivity
Statistics (IACLPS) from 2005 to 2009; and two round table discussions (RTDs) in June 2008 and April 2009 with
statisticians, economists, experts and stakeholders of labor and employment statistics;
WHEREAS, the following methodologies on estimating annual labor and employment estimates were reviewed and
evaluated: (1) using the average of deseasonalized estimates of the four LFS rounds; (2) adopting the October LFS
estimates of each year; (3) using ILO interpolation procedure; and (4) using the average estimates of the four LFS
rounds;
WHEREAS, as a result of the consultation meetings and discussions, the IACLPS has identified the pros and cons of
each methodology, as follows:
1.

using the average of deseasonalized estimates of the four LFS rounds would entail extensive advocacy among
users on the concept of deseasonalization aside from the difficulty in crosstabulating these estimates by
characteristics (e.g., by class of worker, by industry, by occupation, etc.);

2.

adopting the October LFS estimates of each year does not address the issue of seasonality and does not
capture the labor and employment situation in the other three quarters of the year;

3.

the ILO interpolation procedure is meant to generate only monthly estimates and the formula used allows
influence of January estimates of the following year;

4.

using the average estimates of the four LFS rounds is deemed as the most appropriate approach for
generating annual labor and employment estimates for the following reasons: a) it captures the labor and
employment situation in all four quarters of the year; b) the generation of crosstabulations (e.g., by class of
workers, by occupation group) is more feasible for producer of estimates; c) it is the closest method for
estimating the number of persons who work four times for the entire year; and d) these estimates are being
used by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and its attached agencies and regional offices for
planning/formulation of intervention programs;

WHEREAS, while two out of three participants in the 1st RTD preferred adopting the October LFS estimates, all four
economists/statisticians, experts and stakeholders in the 2nd RTD recommended using average of LFS estimates of
the four rounds;
WHEREAS, after thorough review and discussions, the IACLPS in its meeting on 19 May 2009, recommended the use
of the average estimates of the four LFS rounds as the official methodology for generating annual labor and
employment estimates;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Board approve the methodology for
generating annual labor and employment estimates as recommended by the IACLPS, for adoption by all concerned
government agencies;

BE IT RESOLVED FURTHER, that the NSO be responsible for generating annual labor and employment estimates
starting 2008 in accordance with the approved methodology and metadata (Annex BR-09-2009-01).
Approved this 6th day of July 2009, in Pasig City.
Secretary General

Attested by: ROMULO A. VIROLA

Philippines Unemployment Rate

1994-2015 | Data | Chart | Calendar

Unemployment Rate in Philippines increased to 6.50 percent in the third quarter of 2015
from 6.40 percent in the second quarter of 2015. Unemployment Rate in Philippines
averaged 8.82 percent from 1994 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 13.90 percent in
the first quarter of 2000 and a record low of 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Unemployment Rate in Philippines is reported by the National Statistics Office of Philippines.

Actual

Previous

Highest

Lowest

Dates

Unit

Frequency

6.50

6.40

13.90

6.00

1994 - 2015

percent

Quarterly

In Philippines, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of
the labour force. This page provides - Philippines Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast,
chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Content for - Philippines Unemployment Rate - was last refreshed on
Sunday,
October
25,
2015.

Philippines Jobless Rate Falls in July

Philippines unemployment rate was at 6.5 percent in July of 2015, down from 6.7 percent a year earlier but
up
from
6.4 percent
reported
in
April
2015.
The
figure excludes
Lette
Region.
There were 2,724 thousand unemployed persons. Among the unemployed persons, 62.1 percent were males. The
age group 15 to 24 years comprised 50.4 percent, while the age group 25 to 34, 29.5 percent. By educational

attainment, 22.2 percent of the unemployed were college graduates, 13.5 percent were college undergraduates, and
33.2 percent were high school graduates.
Meanwhile, the number of underemployed was 8,219 in July. More than 50 percent worked for less than 40 hours a
week and 38.3 percent worked in the agriculture sector, while 44.2 percent were in the services sector. Those in the
industry sector accounted for 17.6 percent.
In July of 2015, there were 39,174 thousand employed persons. 55.5 percent worked in the services sector, 28.0
percent in agriculture and the remaining 16.5 percent in industry.
The labour force participation rate fell to 63.0 percent from 64.4 percent a year ago.

Philippines Labour

Last

Previous

Highest

Lowest

Unit

Unemployment Rate

6.50

6.40

13.90

6.00

percent

[+]

Employed Persons

39174.00

39159.00

39174.00

18567.00

Thousand

[+]

Unemployed Persons

2724.00

2681.00

4989.00

1720.00

Thousand

[+]

Job Vacancies

199942.00 199942.00 290741.00 3036.00

Labor Force Participation Rate

62.90

64.60

94.70

62.90

percent

[+]

Wages

8280.00

7995.00

8280.00

5798.00

PHP/Month

[+]

Wages in Manufacturing

1367.08

1455.97

1455.97

638.86

Index Points

[+]

Population

100.10

98.80

100.10

26.27

Million

[+]

[+]

Philippine unemployment rate further down

in July 2015 to 6.5%
By: Philippines News Agency
September 10, 2015 12:19 AM

InterAksyon.com means BUSINESS

MANILA - The number of unemployed Filipinos further declined in July 2015 as the market continues to reflect the
continued strength of the economy, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said Wednesday.
The favorable economic growth of the country certainly drove an encouraging response from the labor market in
July 2015. This follows a similar trend in January and April 2015 where unemployment also declined relative to
2014, said Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan in a statement.

Balisacan expects the country to be at par in terms of achieving the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) target of 6.6
percent to 6.8 percent for unemployment for the rest of the year.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Wednesday that unemployment rate further eased to 6.5 percent,
lower by 0.2 percentage points (ppt) from last years 6.7 percent.
The services sector, which makes up more than half of the total employed, continues to be the top jobs generator.
This is followed by the industry sector, backed by strong public and private construction.
A broad-based increase in the number of full-time workers was likewise observed across majority of the production
sectors, coupled with a significant decrease in the number of part-time workers.
More remunerative and stable wage and salary jobs also increased by 1.5 million - of which, 1.1 million workers
were from private establishments.
However, the Cabinet official noted, the stellar performance of the two sectors was not enough to offset the
debilitating impact of El Nio on the agriculture sector, which recorded 877,000 net employment losses in July 2015.
Balisacan said interventions in the agriculture sector must thus continue to protect El Nio-affected workers.
The Roadmap to Address the Impact of El Nino (RAIN) is currently being drafted by NEDA as the lead agency in the
Task Force on El Nio.
Over the medium term, government efforts should help lift the constraints to sustained, decent and quality jobgenerating growth by increasing competition and reducing the cost of doing business, he said. (PNA)

Philippines struggles with

unemployment despite economic
growth
Felipe Salvosa
Tuesday, 1 Sep 2015 | 9:46 PM ETFinancial Times

316
SHARES

2
COMMENTSJoin the Discussion

Gregorio Dantes Jr. | Pacific Press | LightRocket | Getty Images

METRO MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Aug 20, 2015: A homeless Filipino family begging for food to all road passers in the
street of Manila City.

Despite rapid economic growth in the Philippines in recent years, unemployment remains
a persistent problem for the sprawling Southeast Asian nation of more than 100 million
people.
Under President Benigno Aquino, in office since 2010, unemployment has fallen. The
latest figures show the rate at 6.4 per cent in the second quarter of this year, down from
7 per cent a year earlier. But progress has been uneven and the Philippines still has one
of the highest rates of unemployment in the Asean region.
One reason is that job creation has struggled to keep pace with an ever-expanding
population. In three of the past five years, the number of people entering the job market
has been greater than the number of jobs created.
The conundrum highlights the difficulty of spreading the benefits of economic growth
and suggests they have yet to trickle down to more deprived areas.
Participation in the labour force remains relatively low. Only about 65 per cent of the
population aged 15 and above is looking for work, one of the lowest levels in the region.
This compares with 78 per cent in Vietnam, 72 per cent in Thailand and 68 per cent in
Indonesia.
This is partly explained by the high value set on further education in the Philippines:
young Filipinos typically spend some time in college before entering the labour market,
contributing to the lower participation rate. Others in the region go to work earlier.

Another factor may be the low quality of jobs available. Last year, just 58 per cent of
workers in both formal and informal employment were in what were described as
paid jobs. Of the rest, 28 per cent were self-employed, with no guaranteed income, and
11 per cent worked on family-owned farms or other businesses where they typically
receive food and lodging but no actual cash, according to official statistics.
Benjamin Diokno, an economist at the University of the Philippines and former budget
minister, says this relatively large number of unpaid workers about 4 million people
"bloats" the ranks of the employed and makes unemployment appear less serious than it
is.
Unemployment rate up by 29.4% SWS
By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star) | Updated November 16, 2012 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The number of jobless Filipinos slightly increased from 26.6 percent in May to 29.4 percent in August,
said the recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The SWS poll, published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday, showed 12 percent of the unemployed were those who
resigned and 13 percent were those who lost their jobs. Five percent were first-time job seekers.
Of those who lost their jobs, 10 percent said their contracts were not renewed, an increase from seven percent in May.
One percent said they were laid off, a decrease from two percent; while two percent said their employers closed shop.

The SWS said joblessness increased among women, from 36.4 percent to 42.5 percent and was slightly up among men 19.3
percent from 18.9 percent.
It rose by six points among those 35 to 44 years old (to 28.1 percent) and by almost five points among the 18-24 (to 54.8
percent).

Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

It dropped from 21.3 percent to 19.2 percent among those 45 years old and above, and by a point to 30.2 percent for those 2534.
The SWS said the 29.4-percent unemployment rate is higher than the governments official unemployment figure of seven
percent (2.8 million unemployed) as of July, and may affect some 11.7 percent of Filipinos.
The latest unemployment rate was still lower than the figures in March, which hit 34.4 percent, the survey said.
The same survey also showed more Filipinos are optimistic that jobs will be available.
Asked about job prospects in the next 12 months, 33 percent said there would be more jobs, 37 percent said there would be no
change and 16 percent were pessimistic, for a fair net optimism score of +17.
In the May 2012 poll, 29 percent said there would be more jobs, 31 percent said there would be no change and 16 percent said
there would be less, for a mediocre net score of zero.
The SWS said its figures are based on the traditional definition of unemployment as being without a job and also looking for a
job. The jobless who are not looking for work housewives, the retired, etc. are excluded.
Joblessness refers to adults in the labor force those who are at least 18 years old, in contrast to the official lower boundary of
15 years of age used by the National Statistics Office, the SWS said.
The SWS said the NSOs Labor Force Survey definition of unemployment has three requirements: not working, looking for work
and available for work.
Those not available for work, even though looking for work, are subtracted, while those available for work but not seeking work
for a number of reasons are added.
If availability of work is considered, the SWS jobless rate would be 22.9 percent (an estimated 8.4 million Filipinos), the pollster
said.
The SWS survey was conducted from Aug. 24-27 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.
It has sampling error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national and plus or minus six percentage points for
area percentages.

COUNTRIES

Unemployment Rate Reference Previous Highest Lowest Unit

Australia

6.20

Sep/15

6.20

11.10

4.00

percent [+]

Brazil

7.60

Sep/15

7.60

13.10

4.30

percent [+]

COUNTRIES

Unemployment Rate Reference Previous Highest Lowest Unit

Canada

7.10

Sep/15

7.00

13.10

2.90

percent [+]

China

4.04

Jun/15

4.10

4.30

3.90

percent [+]

Euro Area

11.00

Aug/15

11.00

12.10

7.20

percent [+]

France

10.30

Jun/15

10.30

10.80

7.20

percent [+]

Germany

4.50

Aug/15

4.60

14.20

0.40

percent [+]

India

4.90

Dec/13

5.20

9.40

4.90

percent [+]

Indonesia

5.81

Mar/15

5.94

11.24

2.00

percent [+]

Italy

11.90

Aug/15

12.00

13.00

5.80

percent [+]

Japan

3.40

Aug/15

3.30

5.60

1.00

percent [+]

Mexico

4.50

Sep/15

4.68

5.93

2.22

percent [+]

Netherlands

6.80

Sep/15

6.80

7.90

3.60

percent [+]

Russia

5.20

Sep/15

5.30

14.10

4.80

percent [+]

South Korea

3.50

Sep/15

3.60

7.10

2.90

percent [+]

Spain

21.18

Sep/15

22.37

26.94

4.41

percent [+]

Switzerland

3.20

Sep/15

3.20

5.40

1.60

percent [+]

Turkey

9.80

Jul/15

9.60

14.80

7.30

percent [+]

United Kingdom

5.40

Aug/15

5.50

12.00

3.40

percent [+]

United States

5.10

Sep/15

5.10

10.80

2.50

percent [+]