The Labor Force Survey (LFS) provides statistics on levels and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment of the country and regions. It is used for the projection of future human resource and helps in the assessment of the potential human resource available for economic development.

In Ilocos Region, there were about 3,518 thousand population 15 years old and over in October 2018, an increase of 1.2 percent from 3,477 thousand persons 15 years old and over in the region in October 2017.

Employment Indicators

Table 1. Employment Indicators, Philippines and Ilocos Region October 2017 and October 2018

Labor Force Participation Rate in Ilocos Region is 61.3%

• The result of the October 2018 LFS showed that the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) of Ilocos Region was estimated at 61.3 percent. This translates to about 2,157 thousand individuals in the region whose age is 15 years old and over.
• The LFPR of the region in October 2018 was higher by 1.6 percentage points compared with the LFPR recorded in October 2017.
• Meanwhile, the LFPR of the country decreased by 1.5 percentage points from 62.1 percent in October 2017 to 60.6 percent in October 2018.

Employment Rate in Ilocos Region increases by 1.5 percentage points

• The employment rate of the region in October 2018 was estimated at 93.3 percent. This is 1.5 percentage points higher compared with the employment rate recorded in October 2017 at 91.8 percent.
• The employment rate of the country in October 2018 at 94.9 percent was higher by 1.6 percentage points compared with the employment rate of Ilocos Region in the same period.
• Along with other regions, Ilocos Region posted the lowest employment rate as shown in Figure 1. Cagayan Valley registered the highest employment rate at 97.2 percent followed by Northern Mindanao at 96.9 percent.

Figure 1. Employment Rate by Region, Philippines: October 2018

​Underemployment rate is up by 2.4 percentage points

• The underemployment rate of the region increased by 2.4 percentage points from 20.0 percent in October 2017 to 22.4 percent in October 2018.
• On the contrary, there is a decrease of 2.6 percentage points in the underemployment rate of the country from 15.9 percent in October 2017 to 13.3 percent in October 2018.

Males dominate females in terms of employment

• Table 2 reflects that males (62.0%) dominated females (38.0%) in terms of employment in October 2018. These translate to about 1,247 thousand employed males and 765 thousand employed females.
• Similarly, employed males (65.2%) outnumbered employed females (34.8%) in October 2017. There were about 1,240 thousand males and 663 thousand females who were employed in the region in October 2017.

Table 2. Number and Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Sex Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

• Figure 2 shows the distribution of employed persons by sex in October 2017 and October 2018 in Ilocos Region. It can be observed in the figure the decrease in the proportion of employed males by 3.2 percentage points from 65.2 percent in October 2017 to 62.0 percent in October 2018.

Figure 2. Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Sex Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

Highest Educational Attainment

• Table 3 reflects that more than half (50.1%) of the employed persons in Ilocos Region in October 2018 were either in junior high school level or graduated from junior high school. This translates to 1,009 thousand employed persons who attained junior high school level or graduated from junior high school.
• Similarly, in October 2017, those who attained junior high school level or graduated from junior high school had the biggest proportion of employed persons in the region with 47.0 percent share or 893 thousand individuals.
• On the other end, those with no grade completed comprised the smallest proportion of 0.7 percent share or 14 thousand employed persons in the region in October 2018.
• Employed persons with no grade completed and who attained senior high school and graduated from senior high school comprised the smallest proportion both with 0.3 percent share or 6 thousand persons in October 2017.

Table 3. Number and Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Highest Grade Completed, Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

• Figure 3 shows that employed persons who attained junior high school or graduated from junior high school increased by 3.1 percentage points from October 2017 to October 2018.
• The same trend can be observed in the proportion of employed persons with no grade completed and who attained senior high school level or graduated from senior high school which both increased by 0.4 percentage point from October 2017 to October 2018

Figure 3. Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Highest Grade Completed Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

Services lead industry employment in Ilocos Region in October 2018

• Table 4 shows that most of the employed persons in Ilocos Region in October 2018 worked in Services with about 1,148 thousand individuals. Similarly, in October 2017, most of the employed persons in the region worked in Services with about 1,079 thousand individuals.
• This was followed by those who worked in Agriculture in October 2017 and October 2018 with about 508 thousand and 562 thousand employed persons respectively.
• Those who were employed in Industry comprised the smallest number of employed persons in the region in October 2017 and October 2018 accounting to about 315 thousand and 302 thousand employed persons respectively.

Table 4. Number and Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Major Industry, Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

• Figure 4 shows that workers under Services remained to have the highest percent distribution of employed persons in the region in October 2017 and October 2018. The least were recorded in Industry in the same period.
• Workers in Services slightly increased by 0.4 percentage point from 56.7 percent in October 2017 to 57.1 percent in October 2018. Employed persons in Agriculture increased by 1.2 percentage points from 26.7 percent in October 2017 to 27.9 percent in October 2018. Meanwhile, a 1.6 percentage points decrease was recorded by workers in Industry from 16.6 percent in October 2017 to 15.0 percent in October 2018.

Figure 4. Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Major Industry Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

Elementary occupations comprise the biggest number of employed persons

• It can be gleaned in Table 5 that workers in elementary occupations group had the highest number of employed persons in Ilocos Region with about 583 thousand in October 2017 and 592 thousand in October 2018.
• No employed person was recorded in the armed forces and special occupations group in October 2018 while about 7 thousand was posted in October 2017.

Table 5. Number and Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Major Occupation Group, Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

• Figure 5 reveals that those who belong to elementary occupations comprised the biggest group making up 29.4 percent of the total employed persons in the region in October 2018. This was followed by service and sales workers with 18.8 percent share in the same period.
• Similarly, those who belong to elementary occupations had the highest proportion of employed persons in October 2017 with 30.6 percent share followed by service and sales workers with 15.3 percent share.
• On the other hand, the smallest occupation group was recorded by the armed forces and special occupations with less than once percent share both in October 2017 and October 2018.

Figure 5. Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Major Occupation Group Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

Wage and salary workers record the highest number of employed

• Table 6 shows that the biggest number of employed persons in Ilocos Region in October 2018 was recorded by wage and salary workers with 1,209 thousand employed persons. Self-employed without any paid employee ranked second with 501 thousand followed by employer in own family-operated farm or business with 159 thousand employed persons.
• Likewise, wage and salary workers also posted the largest share in October 2017 with 1,218 thousand in the region. It was also followed by self-employed without any paid employee and employer in own family-operated farm or business with 396 thousand and 183 thousand respectively.
• On the contrary, workers without pay in own family-operated farm or business (unpaid family worker) accounted for the smallest number of the total employed persons in Ilocos Region in October 2017 and October 2018 with 105 thousand and 143 thousand individuals respectively.

Table 6. Number and Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Class of Worker Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

• In terms of percent distribution, it can be observed in Figure 6 that wage and salary workers contributed the biggest share to the total employed persons in October 2017 and October 2018 with 64.0 percent share and 60.1 percent share respectively.
• Employed persons who worked without pay in own-family operated farm or business accounted the least proportion recorded with 5.5. percent share in October 2017 and 7.1 percent share in October 2018.

Figure 6. Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Class of Worker Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

Employed persons who worked for 40 hours and over post highest employment

• Table 7 shows that those who worked for 40 hours and over in Ilocos Region recorded the highest number of employed persons with 1,344 thousand in October 2017 and 1,251 thousand individuals in October 2018.
• The least number was recorded by those who did not work accounting to 7 thousand in October 2017 and 10 thousand in October 2018.

Table 7. Number and Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Total Hours Worked Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

• Figure 7 shows a decrease of 8.4 percentage points on the proportion of employed persons who worked for 40 hours and over a week from 70.6 percent in October 2017 to 62.2 percent in October 2018.
• Meanwhile, an increase of 7.1 percentage points was observed in the percent distribution of employed persons who worked under 20 hours a week in the region in October 2017 and October 2018 recorded at 11.5 percent and 18.6 percent respectively.

Figure 7. Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Total Hours Worked Ilocos Region: October 2017 and October 2018

The mean number of weeks looking for work is 4.5

• In terms of job hunting, Ilocos Region landed eighth as to lowest duration of unemployed persons looking for work with an average of 4.5 weeks as shown in Figure 8.
• CALABARZON recorded the lowest mean number of weeks for unemployed persons looking for work with 2.6 weeks followed by MIMAROPA with an average of 2.8 weeks.
• On the other hand, the longest duration of unemployed persons looking for work was posted by Zamboanga Peninsula with an average of 7.8 weeks.

Figure 8. Mean Number of Weeks Looking for Work by Region Philippines: October 2018

SGD. ATTY. SHEILA O. DE GUZMAN
(Chief Administrative Officer)
Officer-in-Charge

DET/JMSS