LABOR FORCE. Tacloban city government workers in this July 17, 2023 photo. At least 2.15 million people in Eastern Visayas have been included in the Eastern Visayas labor force in April 2023, higher than in January, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday. (Photo courtesy of Tacloban city government)
TACLOBAN CITY – At least 2.15 million people in Eastern Visayas have been included in the Eastern Visayas labor force in April 2023, higher than in January, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.
The number represents 65.6 percent of the region’s estimated 3.28 million employed and unemployed population 15 years old and over, PSA Eastern Visayas regional director Wilma Perante said in a statement.
“The 65.6 percent labor force participation rate (LFPR) is higher by 1.9 percentage points than the 63.7 percent LFPR recorded in January 2023. This figure was also higher by 5.6 percentage points compared with the 60 LFPR in April 2022,” Perante added.
This means that the labor force in April 2023 was higher by around 73,000 persons than the 2.08 million persons who were in the labor force in January 2023, and higher by around 202,000 persons than the 1.95 million labor force in April 2022.
In terms of employment, 95.8 percent of the region’s labor force have jobs in April this year. The 95.8 percent employment rate translates to about 2.06 million employed persons out of the 2.15 million persons in the labor force.
This number was higher by about 62,000 employed persons compared with the two million employed persons in January 2023.
The LFS gathers such data on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population with nationwide coverage and is conducted on a quarterly and monthly mode by interviewing households.
“Labor represents an important factor of production, hence, the improvement of the quality of the labor force, and efforts to make it more productive and responsive to growth are necessary for the development of the economy. A clear knowledge and understanding of the size, composition, and other characteristics of the segment of the population is a big step in this direction,” Perante said.
The PSA came up with the result through the conduct of a labor force survey held on April 10 to 29, 2023, covering 44,398 eligible sample households in Eastern Visayas. (PNA)
