Employment rate in August 2022 was estimated at 94.7 percent. This was higher than the recorded employment rate in the same period last year, which was estimated at 91.9 percent, but was slightly lower than the 94.8 percent estimate in July 2022. In terms of magnitude, the number of employed persons was estimated at 47.87 million while it was at 44.23 million for the same period last year. In July 2022, the number of employed persons was 47.39 million.
The labor force participation rate (LFPR) in August 2022 was estimated at 66.1 percent, the highest reported rate since January of this year. The second and third highest were in March 2022 and July 2022 with 65.4 percent and 65.2 percent, respectively. LFPR in August 2021 was registered at 63.6 percent.
The number of unemployed persons in August 2022 increased to 2.68 million from 2.60 million in July 2022, registering a month-on-month increase of 78.64 thousand unemployed individuals. However, the number of unemployed persons in August 2022 was lower by 1.20 million compared with the number of unemployed persons in August 2021. (Table 3)
In terms of rates, a lower unemployment rate of 5.3 percent was posted in August 2022 compared with the 8.1 percent recorded in the same period last year, but it was 0.1 percentage point higher than in July 2022.
Employment rate in August 2022 at 94.7 percent
The average hours worked by an employed person in August 2022 remained unchanged at 40.5 hours per week compared with that in July 2022. However, this was higher than the average hours worked in the same period last year at 39.6 hours per week.
Underemployment rate in August 2022 was recorded at 14.7 percent. This was equivalent to 7.03 million 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. In July 2022, this was registered at 13.8 percent, while in August 2021, the estimate was the same at 14.7 percent.
Visible underemployment rate or the proportion of employed persons working less than 40 hours in a week was estimated at 9.4 percent in August 2022, lower than the estimated rates in the same month last year at 10.4 percent. On the other hand, invisible underemployment rate increased from 4.2 percent in August 2021 to 5.3 percent in August 2022.
By broad industry group, the services sector continued its dominance among the sectors, having the highest share in terms of the number of employed persons which accounted for 59.9 percent. The agriculture and the industry sectors accounted for 22.6 percent and 17.5 percent share, respectively, of the 47.87 million employed persons in August 2022.
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