Fifty-six percent of the population 15 years old and over were in the labor force

The number of persons who were in the labor force was at 130 thousand of the estimated 229,163 population 15 years old and over in 2021. This translates to a labor force participation rate (LFPR) of 56.6 percent or 566 in every 1000 of the population aged 15 years and over were either employed or unemployed. The 2021 LFPR was lower by 4.4 and 10.5 percentage points compared 2020 and 2019 respectively. (Table 1)

Davao Occidental recorded the lowest LFPR in Davao Region

Among the provinces and Highly Urbanized City (HUC) in Davao Region, Davao Occidental recorded the lowest LFPR at 56.6 percent while Davao City posted the highest at 63.5 percent followed by Davao del Norte at 63.2 percent. The provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Davao de Oro recorded 59.3 percent, 57.8 percent and 57.0 percent, respectively. (Figure 1)

Employment rate registered at 96.0 percent

About 96.0 percent or 125 thousand of the working-age population who were economically active or those who belong to the labor force in Davao Occidental are employed in 2021. This is 0.7 and 0.4 percentage points lower than of the previous years, 2019 and 2020.

Davao Occidental placed third along with Davao del Norte in terms of employment rate in Davao Region for the year 2021. Davao de Oro posted the highest employment rate at 97.1 closely followed by Davao del Sur with 96.8 percent and Davao Oriental at 94.5 percent. While Davao City recorded the lowest employment rate with 93.7 percent. (Figure 2)

Unemployment rate reaches 4.0 percent

Davao Occidental reaches 4 percent unemployment rate in year 2021, which is equivalent to almost five (5) thousand individuals. This is a little bit higher compared to 3.6 percent in 2020 and 3.3 percent in 2019.

With the slight increase of unemployment rate, Davao Occidental ranked third along with Davao del Norte. While Davao de Oro posted the lowest and Davao City recorded the highest unemployment rate in Davao Region for the year 2021. (Figure 3)

Davao Occidental’s Underemployment rate is at 24.2 percent

Underemployed persons are employed person who: expressed their desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work. In year 2021, 24.2 percent of total employed person in Davao Occidental reported to be underemployed.

Davao Occidental recorded the highest underemployment rate in year 2021, followed by Davao del Oriental at 20.0 percent, Davao del Norte at 12.7 percent, Davao de Oro at 10.2 percent and Davao del Sur at 7.9 percent. On the other hand, Davao City has the lowest underemployment rate at 3.2 percent. (Figure 4)