Almost sixty-four percent of the population 15 years old and over were in the labor force 
In October 2024, Davao Region's total population 15 years old and over was estimated at 3.87 million. The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in October 2024 was posted at 63.7 percent, lower than the reported LFPR in October 2023 at 63.9 percent and July 2024 at 62.5 percent (see Table 1). The LFPR in October 2024 translates to 2.46 million Davaoeños aged 15 years old and over who were in the labor force, or those who were either employed or unemployed. The number of individuals  aged 15 years old and over who were in the labor force in October 2023 was 2.41 million, while 2.39 million were in the labor force in July 2024.
 

Among the 17 Regions, BARMM reported the highest LFPR at 70.1 percent, while Bicol Region has the lowest rate at 58.5 percent. Five regions have lower LFPR than the national estimate of 63.3 percent: NCR (62.3%), CALABARZON (62.0%), Ilocos Region (61.8%), Central Luzon (61.8%), and Zamboanga Peninsular (61.6%). BARMM has the highest decrease in terms of percentage points from 74.0 percent LFPR in October 2023 to 70.1 percent in October 2024.

Davao Region’s employment rate at 97.5 percent
Employment rate or the proportion of employed persons of the total labor force in Davao Region was at 97.5 percent in October 2024. This was higher than the employment rate in October 2023 and July 2024 at 97.1 and 96.9 percent, respectively. However, in terms of levels, the number of employed persons in October 2024 was posted at 2.40 million, higher than the number of employed persons in the same month last year at 2.35 million. In July 2024, the number of employed persons was estimated at 2.32 million.
 

Davao Region's employment rate for October 2024 was higher than the national estimate of 96.1 percent. Ten other regions recorded higher employment rate compared to the national employment rate: CAR (97.7%), SOCCSKSARGEN (97.6%), Zamboanga Peninsula (97.6%), Caraga (97.2%), Central Visayas (97.1%), Central Luzon (97.1%), Cagayan Valley (97.0%), Eastern                 Visayas (96.9%), Ilocos Region (96.7%), and BARMM (96.5%). Bicol Region showed the highest decrease of 1.4 percentage points from October 2023 at 95.8 percent to October 2024 at 94.4 percent.
 
Unemployment rate was recorded at 2.5 percent 
Unemployment rate of Davao Region in October 2024 is at 2.5 percent, which is lower than the same month of the previous year at 2.9 percent. Unemployment rate in July 2024 was recorded at 3.1 percent. In terms of magnitude, the number of unemployed individuals in October 2024 was estimated at 62 thousand. This was lower than the reported number unemployed persons in October 2023 and July 2024 of 69 thousand and 74 thousand, respectively.
 

Six regions of the country reporting higher unemployment rate than the national estimate of 3.9 percent in October 2024 were: CALABARZON (5.7%), Bicol Region (5.6%), NCR (5.2%), MIMAROPA (4.4%), Western Visayas (4.1%), and Northern Mindanao (4.0%).

Davao Region’s Underemployment rate is at 4.3 percent 
In October 2024, 4.3 percent of total employed Davaoeños reported to be underemployed. This is lower than the recorded rate in October 2023 of 7.3 percent and recorded in higher rate in July 2024 of 3.7 percent. In terms of magnitude, about 104 thousand of the 2.40 million employed individuals expressed the 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 October 2024.
 

SOCCSKSARGEN has the highest underemployment rate with 35.2 percent, 22.6 percentage points higher than the national estimate of 12.6 percent. Nine other regions with underemployment rate higher than the national estimate were: MIMAROPA (20.9%), Cagayan Valley (20.8%), Northern Mindanao (20.2%), Bicol Region (18.0%), BARMM (15.4%), CAR (15.3%), CALABARZON (14.2%), Zamboanga Peninsula (13.7%), and Caraga (13.1%).

Technical Notes 
•    The Labor Force Survey (LFS) is a vehicle to gather such data on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population with nationwide coverage and conducted on a quarterly and monthly mode by interviewing households. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) implements the LFS.
•    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.
•    The reference period for this survey is the “past week” referring to the past seven days preceding the date of visit of the enumerator or the field interviewer. 
•    The population projections based on the 2015 Population Census (POPCEN 2015) has been adopted to generate the labor force statistics. For comparability, population projections based on the POPCEN 2015 was likewise used in the October 2019 labor force statistics.
•    Starting April 2012 LFS, the codes for industry adopted the 2009 Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC). Prior to this, codes for industry used the 1994 PSIC. The 2012 Philippine Standard Occupational Classification (PSOC) was adopted starting April 2016. The 1992 PSOC had been used prior to these rounds.
•    In the April 2017 round of the LFS, Computer Aided Personal Interviewing (CAPI) using Tablet was utilized in the enumeration. 
•    Overseas Filipino Workers are not considered part of the labor force in the Philippines. Hence, in the LFS, data on economic characteristics of household members who are overseas workers are not collected. In the LFS reports, they are excluded in the estimation of the size of working population, that is, population aged 15 years and older, and in the estimation of the labor force.

APPROVED FOR RELEASE    :                            

RANDOLPH ANTHONY B. GALES
(Chief Statistical Specialist)
Officer-In-Charge
Regional Statistical Services Office XI