Philippines Labour Datafile

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12 Aug 2005

A well functioning labour force is key to economic growth. The charts below display some of the key trends and significant features of both the working population and the unemployed across sex, age and activity.
Employment, unemployment and economically active population: 2004

Employment '000; Unemployment '000

Source: Euromonitor International from ILO Note: Size of bubble denotes economically active population (EAP) i.e. employed + unemployed This chart plots unemployed population across the x (horizontal) axis and employed population across the y (vertical) axis. The size of the bubble denotes the total economically active population (unemployed + employed population). It allows the overall size and strength of the labour market to be seen at a glance. A strong labour market is important for economic growth and stability as it is one of the primary factors in potential output i.e. GDP.
Asia Pacific female participation in the labour market: 2004 Ranking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 13 Philippines 0.28 Country Singapore China Vietnam Thailand Kazakhstan Hong Kong, China Japan Turkmenistan Azerbaijan South Korea Female EAP: female population 0.58 0.53 0.52 0.51 0.45 0.44 0.44 0.42 0.41 0.40

Source: Euromonitor International from ILO This ratio shows the female economically active population as a proportion of the total female population. The closer the figure is to 1,

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the higher proportion of women in the labour market. Female participation in the labour market varies dramatically across countries. Women play an important role in the economy, and in developed countries in particular, it is important that they are fully integrated as populations age and the pool of available labour diminishes.
Annual percentage change in number of unemployed: 1978-2004

% Source: Euromonitor International from ILO This chart denotes annual percentage growth or decline in the number of unemployed. Changes in unemployment are cyclical i.e. as demand increases businesses take on more workers and unemployment falls.
Asia Pacific % aged 65+ who are employed: 2004 Ranking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Country Philippines Thailand South Korea Indonesia India Pakistan Japan Singapore Hong Kong Kazakhstan % of those aged 65+ who are employed 50.6 48.8 33.2 30.9 30.7 23.4 20.6 8.6 5.1 4.6

Source: Euromonitor International from ILO and national statistics This ranking shows the % of those aged 65+ in employment. A majority of developed economies are suffering from ageing populations, which can have negative knock-on effects on the economy. Many need to encourage the older population to work longer in order to avoid a pensions crisis and also to keep the labour market at levels necessary for continuing economic growth. On the other hand, in both developed and developing countries, high old age employment figures could also indicate a lack of pension provision and economic security for the elderly.
Employment by category: 2004

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% Source: Euromonitor International from ILO Note: A: agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing; B: community, education, health, social, personal services, public admin and defence; C: construction; D: electricity, gas and water supply; E: finance, insurance, real estate and business services; F: manufacturing; G: mining and quarrying; H: transport, storage and communications; I: trade, motor vehicles and personal and household goods repair, hotels and restaurants. This chart shows the percentage of those employed in each major category. It provides an indicator of the structure of the labour market. When viewed in conjunction with GDP by origin, labour productivity of each sector can also be measured. A high proportion of employment in a sector does not necessarily result in a high economic output of that sector, it may well indicate a lack of competitiveness.
Unemployment by Age 1999-2004

'000 Source: Euromonitor International from ILO This chart shows the age composition of the unemployed population. Unemployment often differs substantially across age groups. Reasons are numerous and depend on the flexibility of the labour market, employment legislation and educational attainment amongst others. For example, it can be harder to dismiss an older worker, as job security may increase with time-served and hence age. Conversely, in a time of increasing technological advancement and structural change to an economy, an older worker may find his or her skills become obsolete resulting in unemployment.

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 Euromonitor International 2014

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