Wednesday, March 19, 2008 NCR posts highest number of jobless in RP
THE National Capital Region (NCR) was recorded of having the most number of jobless in the country at 12.5 percent, the labor force survey (LFS) by the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported Tuesday.
Based on the January 2008 LFS, the 7.4 percent unemployment rate this year is lower by .4 percent compared to the recorded data during the same period last year.
Males are the ones having a hard time to be employed after posting 8.8 percent compared to females at 6.7 percent.
For every 10 unemployed, five (49.6 percent) were in the age group 15 to 24 years, while three were in the age group 25 to 34.
Around 39 percent of the unemployed had attained college level and 33.5 percent were high school graduates, the report said.
Aside from the unemployed, the survey also indicated that the number of underemployed Filipinos also increased this year.
Most of the underemployed were found in the agriculture sector at 49.3 percent and about 35.8 percent are in the services sector, while those in the industry sector accounts for 14.9 percent.
About 61.2 percent of the underemployed were reported as visibly underemployed, or had been working for less than 40 hours a week.
Underemployed persons are those who want or desire additional hours of work.
Meanwhile, the report also indicated that the number of employed persons in January 2008 increased by .4 percent to 33.7 million.
Across regions, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) had the highest employment rate (97.6 percent), followed by Cagayan Valley (96.5 percent) and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) (96 percent).
The NCR recorded the lowest employment rate at 87.5 percent.
As of end January 2008, the number of persons in the workforce was estimated at 36.4 million out of the estimated 57.4 million population 15 years and over.
These numbers translate into a labor force participation rate of 63.4 percent, compared to last year's figure of 64.8 percent.
Of the total 33.7 million employed persons, around one-half (50.2 percent) were in the services sector; more than one-third (35 percent) in the agriculture sector; and the rest (14.8 percent) were in the industry sector. (FP/Sunnex)
