Eastern Visayas Registers 3.0% Unemployment Rate in April 2025

Tacloban City- The unemployment rate in Eastern Visayas in April 2025 was estimated at 3.0 percent, similar to the rate posted in April 2024, but 0.6 percentage point higher than the 2.4 percent unemployment rate in January 2025.

The unemployment rate in April 2025 translates to 60 thousand unemployed persons out of the 2.01 million persons in the labor force.

The number of unemployed persons in April 2024 was 62 thousand, while that in January 2025 was 52 thousand.

The region’s employment rate in April 2025 was estimated at 97.0 percent, the same rate was registered in April 2024.

This employment rate translates to 1.95 million employed persons out of 2.01 million persons in the labor force of Eastern Visayas in April 2025.

The number of employed persons in April 2025 was lower by 76 thousand compared with the 2.03 million employed persons in April 2024.

This was also lower by 134 thousand than the 2.09 million employed persons in January 2025 at 97.6 percent. Eastern Visayas registered a Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) of 59.5 percent in April 2025.

This placed the region’s labor force at 2.01 million persons who were either employed or unemployed out of the 3.39 million population 15 years old and over in April 2025.

The 59.5 percent LFPR in April 2025 was 3.0 percentage points lower than the 62.4 percent LFPR recorded in April 2024. Moreover, this was 3.9 percentage points lower than the 63.4 percent LFPR recorded in January 2025. Relatedly, the 2.01 million labor force in April 2025 in Eastern Visayas was lower than the 2.14 million labor force in January 2025.

The underemployment rate in April 2025 was posted at 15.8 percent.

This means that out of 1.95 million employed persons in April 2025, there were about 309 thousand 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 15.8 percent underemployment rate in April 2025 was lower by 4.3 percentage points than the 20.1 percent underemployment rate reported in April 2024.

This was also lower by 0.3 percentage point than the 16.1 percent underemployment rate in January 2025.

Technical Notes :

The stability and growth of a country’s economy hinges on its ability to produce goods and services for both domestic and international use. Labor represents an important factor of production, hence, the improvement of the quality of the labor force, and efforts to make it more productive and responsive to growth are necessary for the development of the economy. A clear knowledge and understanding of the size, composition, and other characteristics of the segment of the population is a big step in this direction.

A continuing supply of the data on labor force is indispensable to national and local development planning. The Labor Force Survey (LFS) implemented by Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), gathers data on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population with nationwide coverage and is conducted on a quarterly and monthly mode by interviewing households.

The LFS aims to provide a quantitative framework for the preparation of plans and formulation of policies affecting the labor market.

The survey is designed to provide statistics on levels and trends of employment, unemployment, and underemployment for the country, as a whole, and for each of the administrative regions.

With regions as domain, survey operations for April 2025 LFS ran for 20 days from 08 to 31 April 2025 and covered 44,825 eligible sample households in the region.

The sampling frame used was the 2023 Geo-enabled Master Sample (GeoMS) design for household-based surveys. The 2023 GeoMS uses the results of the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (CPH). Computer Aided Field Editing (CAFE) program was used to ensure completeness and consistency of encoded entries. The reference period for this survey is the “past week” referring to the past (7) days preceding the date of visit of the enumerator or the interviewer. “Population 15 Years Old and Over” refers to the number of population 15 years old and over excluding overseas workers. “In the Labor Force” or “Economically Active Population” refers to persons 15 years old and over who are either employed or unemployed in accordance with the following definitions. 1. Employed persons include all those who, during the reference period are 15 years old and over as of their last birthday, and are reported either a. At work, i.e., those who do any work even for one hour during the reference period for pay or profit, or work without pay on the farm or business enterprise operated by a member of the same household related by blood, marriage, or adoption; or b. With a job but not at work, i.e., those who have a job or business but are not at work because of temporary illness or injury, vacation, or other reasons. Likewise, persons who expect to report for work or to start the operation of a farm or business enterprise within two weeks from the data of the enumerator’s visit are considered employed.

Underemployed persons include all employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, or an additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours. Visibly underemployed persons are those who work for less than 40 hours during the reference period and want additional hours of work. 3. Unemployed persons include all those who, during the reference period, are 15 years old and over as of their last birthday, and reported as persons: a. Without work, i.e., had no job or business during the reference period; b. Currently available for work, i.e., were available and willing to take up work in paid employment or self-employment during the reference period, and/or would be available and willing to take up work in paid employment or self-employment within two weeks after the interview data; and c. Seeking work, i.e., had taken specific steps to look for a job or establish a business during the reference period, or Not seeking work due to the following reasons: (1) fatigued or believed no work available, i.e., discouraged workers; (2) awaiting results of previous job application; (3) temporary illness or disability; (4) bad weather; and/or (5) waiting for rehire or job recall. 4. Persons Not in the Labor Force are persons 15 years old and over who are neither employed nor unemployed according to the definitions mentioned. Those not in the labor force are persons who are not looking for work because of reasons such as housekeeping, schooling, and permanent disability. Examples are housewives, students, persons with disability or retired persons.