Over 2.37 million part of the total workforce population in Davao Region

Davao Region's total population 15 years old and over for January 2023 was estimated at 3.75 million. Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) during this period was at 63.2 percent, accounting for 2.37 million Davaoeños (see Table 1). This is 3.7 percentage point higher compared to the LFPR of January 2022; i.e. 172 thousand more Davaoeños are in the labor force.

BARMM reported the highest LFPR at 73.2 percent; on the other hand, Bicol Region has the lowest rate at 59.1 percent. Eleven regions have lower LFPR than the national estimate at 64.5 percent: CAR, Cagayan Valley, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, Western Visayas, Central Luzon, Ilocos Region, Eastern Visayas, Davao Region, NCR and Bicol Region. Comparing to January 2022's LFPR, BARMM have the highest increase in terms of percentage points from 56.0 percent to 73.2 percent.

Davao Region’s employment rate attained 95.5 percent

Employment rate or the proportion of employed persons to the total labor force in Davao Region is at 95.5 percent in January 2023, lower by 1.0 percentage point from 96.5 percent in October 2022. This is an estimated decrease of 33.3 thousand Davaoeños with work compared to October 2022. In addition, Davao Region's employment rate for January 2023 attained higher than the national estimate of 95.2 percent by 0.3 percentage point.

As Figure 2 shows, 12 regions recorded higher than the national employment rate: Zamboanga Peninsula, Cagayan Valley, BARMM, CAR, SOCCSKSARGEN, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Central Luzon, Davao Region, Ilocos Region, MIMAROPA and Northern Mindanao. Zamboanga Peninsula has the highest employment rate among all regions at 97.4 percent, 2.2 percentage points higher than the national estimate. Central Visayas showed the highest increase of 1.5 percentage points from October 2022 at 94.2 percent to January 2023 at 95.8 percent.

Unemployment rate was recorded at 4.5 percent

In January 2023, Davao Region posted an unemployment rate at 4.5 percent. This is higher compared to October 2022 unemployment rate (3.5%) and 0.3 percentage point lower than the national estimate.

Unemployment rates in five regions of the country reportedly higher than the national estimate of 4.8 percent in January 2023 were: Bicol Region (6.6%), CALABARZON (5.9%), NCR (5.7%), Western Visayas (5.6%) and Caraga (5.0%).

Davao Region’s Underemployment rate in the country is at 6.3 percent

Underemployed persons are employed persons 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 January 2023, 6.3 percent of total employed Davaoeños reported to be underemployed. The underemployment rate for January 2023 is lower by 1.5 percentage points than October 2022 (7.8%).

Nine other regions with underemployment rate higher than the national estimate of 14.1 percent were: SOCCSKSARGEN, Bicol Region, MIMAROPA, Caraga, Zamboanga Peninsula, Eastern Visayas, CALABARZON, Cagayan Valley and Northern Mindanao. SOCCSKSARGEN has the highest underemployment rate with 29.5 percent which is 15.4 percentage points higher than the national estimate.

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: