Eastern Visayas
posts
5.1% unemployment rate in July 2023
By
PSA-8
December 13, 2023
TACLOBAN CITY –
Eastern Visayas registered a Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR)
of 60.1 percent in July 2023. This placed the region’s labor force
at 1.98 million persons who were either employed or unemployed out
of the estimated 3.30 million population 15 years old and over.
Eastern Visayas’
unemployment rate peaked at 5.1 percent in July 2023, higher by 0.9
percentage point than the 4.2 percent unemployment rate in April
2023. The 5.1 percent unemployment rate was equivalent to around 101
thousand persons in the labor force who were unemployed in July
2023, higher by about 11 thousand unemployed persons compared with
the 90 thousand unemployed persons in April 2023. The 5.1 percent
unemployment rate in July 2023 was also higher compared with the 4.5
percent unemployment rate in July 2022 which was equivalent to 96
thousand unemployed persons. Eastern Visayas ranked fifth among the
regions in the country with high unemployment rate, during the
period in review.
The region’s employment
rate in July 2023 decreased to 94.9 percent, from 95.8 percent in
April 2023. The 94.9 percent employment rate translates to about
1.88 million employed persons out of the 1.98 million persons in the
labor force in July 2023. This number was lower by about 177
thousand employed persons compared with the 2.06 million employed
persons reported in April 2023. Furthermore, the number of employed
persons in July 2023 was lower by around 130 thousand persons than
the estimated 2.01 million employed persons in July 2022. Eastern
Visayas registered the fifth lowest employment rate among the
regions in the country in July 2023.
Underemployed persons are
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. The underemployment rate
in July 2023 was posted at 25.3 percent or about 477 thousand
persons out of around 1.88 million employed persons in July 2023.
The 25.3 percent underemployment rate was 7.4 percentage points
higher than the rate in April 2023 at 18.0 percent. This was also
higher by 9.3 percentage points compared with the 16.0 percent
underemployment rate registered in July 2022. Eastern Visayas
recorded the second highest underemployment rate among the regions
in the country in July 2023, even higher than the 15.9 percent
national estimate.