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Philippine labor force participation dips in January 2019

Some 387,000 Filipinos drop out of the country's labor force, but the employment rate slightly
gets better in January 2019

Ralf Rivas
Published 7:10 PM, March 07, 2019
Updated 7:10 PM, March 07, 2019

JOB WOES. The Philippines' labor force participation rate dips in January 2019. File photo by
Darren Langit/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – Unemployment and underemployment rates went down last January, but
that does not mean more Filipinos got more jobs during that month.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday, March 7, that the country's labor force
participation rate declined to 60.2% in January from 62.2% in the same month a year ago.

The labor force participation rate pertains to the number of people available for work as a
percentage of the total population.

This means that there were 41.4 million Filipinos in the labor force in January, 387,000 fewer
workers compared to the same month a year ago.

The National Economic and Development Authority attributed the decline to the 1.7-million
employment loss in the agriculture sector, which overshadowed the combined 1.3-million
additional employment in the industry and services sectors.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia urged the government to improve the
agriculture sector to generate more jobs.

"The prevalence of low-productivity jobs in the agriculture sector remains a challenge. Sustainable
solutions such as shifting rice farmers to high-value crops, promoting crop diversification,
accelerating development of local infrastructure, and training for farmers on technological
advances are critical to raising productivity in agriculture," Pernia said.

Unemployment, underemployment decline

On the other hand, the country's employment rate slightly improved to 94.8% in January, from
94.7% a year ago.

The unemployment rate was 5.2%, slightly down from last year's 5.3%. This is the lowest
unemployment rate recorded since 2009.

Meanwhile, the underemployment rate – or the proportion of those who are already employed but
still want more work – significantly dropped to 15.6% from 2018's 18%. This is the lowest
underemployment rate recorded for all surveys conducted in the January rounds since 2009.

"The overall improvements in the proportion of remunerative work, and full-time employment, as
well as the decline in underemployment and vulnerable employment, indicate that the quality of
work in the country is continuously progressing," Pernia said.

Explainer

Are the numbers and terms confusing you at this point?

Here is an infographic to help you understand the terms

Employment rate - Percentage of the total number of employed persons to the total number of
persons in the labor force.
Unemployment rate - Percentage of the total number of unemployed persons to the total number
of persons in the labor force.
Underemployment rate - An individual is underemployed when he or she is employed, but
expresses the desire to have additional work hours or to have a new job with longer working
hours. This means that the underemployment rate is the percentage of the total number of
underemployed persons to the total number of employed persons.
Labor force participation rate - Number of people available for work as a percentage of the total
population.
The graphic above shows that the employed, unemployed, and underemployed are all under the
labor force.

Based on the PSA's report, the labor force shrank.

Experts theorize that people may be out of the workforce because they are still studying due to the
government's K to 12 program. But this assumption has yet to be proven, and other factors may be
in play.

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The dip also comes at a time when government spending breached the cap, due to expenses for
infrastructure. – Rappler.com