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• The country’s labor force based on the preliminary results of the October 2009 Labor Force Survey (LFS) of the National Statistics Office (NSO) grew by 3.1 percent (+1.138 million) from 37.058 million in October 2008 to 38.196 million the following year.   The labor force participation rate (LFPR) increased by a mere 0.3 percentage point from its year ago rate of 63.7 percent.
• Employment level as reported in the same period, similarly expanded by 2.7 percent or 944,000 from 34.533 million to 35.477 million.  Almost all regions posted increases in employment Region XII recording the highest at 5.6 percent (+87,000), followed by Region IV-B and NCR at 5.1 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively.
• Both part-time workers (worked less than 40 hours a week) and full-time workers (worked 40 hours or more a week) increased by 5.5 percent (+670,000) and 0.7 percent (+154,000), respectively.
• Wage and salary workers posted an increase of 5.9 percent (+1.067 million) from 17.937 million in October 2008 to 19.004 million in October 2009. On the other hand, both self-employed workers and unpaid family workers decreased by 0.3 percent (-33,000) and 2.4 percent (-105,000), respectively.
• Employment in service sector increased by 6.6 percent (+1.123 million).  Also, industry sector employment went up by 1.4 percent (+72,000) while those in agriculture declined by 2.0 percent (-250,000).
• Compared to October 2008, unemployment rate for October 2009 increased by 0.3 percentage point, i.e., from 6.8 percent to 7.1 percent.  By region, highest unemployment rate was recorded by NCR at 11.8 percent followed by Region IV-A (9.8%) and Region I (9.3%).

• Meanwhile, the unemployment among the male workforce grew by 8.7 percent whereas those among females by 5.8 percent.  By age group, the highest growth rate was 17.3 percent for ages 25-34 years old.
• Also, unemployment rates for the youth population in April 2009 registered lower rates than their year ago rates.
• The number of underemployed persons or those employed and still desirous of additional hours of work increased by 846,000 (14.0%), from 6.029 million in October 2008 to 6.875 million the following year.
• The average daily basic pay of wage and salaried workers covered by the Labor Force Survey of the NSO stood at P 287.52 in April 2009.  A year ago, it was estimated at P 275.11, translating to a P 12.41 increase.
• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the country for 2009 registered at 160.0 index points.  Despite the worldwide financial crisis, prices of goods and services purchased by the households almost remained steady as inflation rate barely inched up at 3.2 percent.  Regionwise, inflation rates were higher in Region VIII (5.5%), ARMM (5.4%) and Region II (5.3%).  Meanwhile, the purchasing power of the peso further eroded to P 0.63 centavos as compared to P 0.65 centavos in 2008.  Among regions, the lowest purchasing power was estimated for ARMM at P 0.55 centavos.
• The domestic economy managed to grow by 0.9 percent in 2009, translating to P 1.432 billion in national output at 1985 prices.  Thus, per capita GDP stood at P 15,527, slightly lower than 2008 per capita at P 15,686.
• The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) was able to deploy 1,284,133 Filipinos from January to November 2009.  About 76.8 percent of them or 986,666 were land-based while the remaining 23.2 percent were sea-based.
• On the other hand, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that OFWs remitted US$ 14.321 billion from January to October 2009.  Of this amount, 80.4 percent or US$ 11.521 billion came from land-based workers while the remaining 19.6 percent or US$ 2.800 billion were sent by sea-based workers.  Those from the Americas remained the top senders (US$ 7.6B) followed by those based in Europe (US$ 2.6B), and the Middle East based (US$2.2B).
• The Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Qualification and Certification System of theTechnical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) certified 164,666 workers out of 225,850 workers assessed in various sectors from January to September 2009.  Majority of those certified were in the health, social and other community development services sector (29.2% or 48,012).
• The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) conducted various examinations in 49 different fields of licensure in 2009.  Except for Ocular Pharmacologist which had a lone examinee and passer, Optometrists (6 year curriculum) and Guidance Counselors garnered the highest passing rates of 73.6 percent and 72.2 percent, respectively.
• As of September 2009, the National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) issued certificates to 49,988 trainees which is 38,625 more than the 11,363 trainees certificated in comparative period of 2008.
• The Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) reported that the registration of new unions (237) as of the third quarter of 2009 was higher by 49.1 percent from the 159 unions registered in the same period of 2008.  These newly registered unions claimed a total membership of 26,250 that brought total existing membership as of end September 2009 to 1.98 million.  About 82.0 percent of these membership came from the private sector, and, are mostly NCR-based (1.257 million).  On the other hand, newly registered Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) for the same period in 2009 reached 318 covering 40,455 workers.  Total CBA coverage as of end September 2009 stood at 213,000 workers.
• Four (4) work stoppages were declared as of end-September 2009 compared to five (5) in the same period in 2008.  The four cases involved some 1,510 workers resulting to 6,000 mandays lost for the period. Three of these cases were disposed at the end of the third quarter 2009.
• As of September 2009, about 410 preventive mediation cases were handled by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), of which 22 (5.4%) materialized into notice of strikes/lockouts and actual strikes/lockouts.  Disposition rate stood at 85.4 percent.  Meanwhile, 97 voluntary arbitration cases were disposed from the 195 total voluntary arbitration cases facilitated/monitored in the same period.
• The Regional Arbitration Branches (RABs) of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) handled a total of 37,420 compulsory arbitration cases from January to September 2009.   The disposition of 24,937 cases benefited 30,251 workers who were awarded with P 3.390 billion in benefits.  Relatedly, appealed cases at the NLRC Commission Proper totaled 14,778 of which 10,324 (69.9%) were disposed during the period.  As a result, a total of P 2.206 billion was awarded to 8,621 workers.REFERENCE: http://www.bles.dole.gov.ph/Current%20Labor%20Statistics/HIGHLIGHTS.html

The 10^th Public Employment Service Office (PESO) Congress will be held at the Development Academy of the Philippines in Tagaytay City on October 5-7, 2010. The PESO Calabarzon, Inc., will host the Congress in partnership with PESOPHIL, the national federation of PESOs, and the DOLE IV-A. Over 600 PESO managers nationwide are expected to participate in the Congress.

The Congress will be a perfect venue for DOLE, LGUs, industry, academe, and other stakeholders in both the public and private sectors to discuss policy issues and share experiences and expertise on how to address labor-skills mismatch through better coordination between employers, academia and government, and strengthening both public and private sector labor market information and exchange institutions like PESOs, especially at the local level.

from: DOLE Website

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