TACLOBAN CITY -- Eastern Visayas recorded 2 million persons in the labor force out of the estimated 3.2 million population 15 years old and over in April 2021. This placed the labor force participation rate (LFPR) at 62.3%.

This means that around 6 in 10 of the population aged 15 years and over were either employed, underemployed or unemployed during the period. The 2 million persons in the labor force in April 2021 was higher by 226 thousand as compared with the figure during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) period in April 2020 recorded at approximately 1.8 million.  This was also higher than the figure reported during pre-pandemic time in April 2019 and in January 2021 posted at 1.9 million persons in both periods. Among regions, Eastern Visayas ranked 6th lowest in terms of LFPR.

The total number of employed persons in Eastern Visayas as of April 2021 was estimated at 1.9 million. This translates to an Employment Rate (ER) of 95% percent which is 2.6 percentage points higher than the 92.4% employment rate reported in January 2021.

This is the highest employment rate reported since April 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 induced ECQ/lockdown. However, the April 2021 employment rate is 1.0 percentage point short of the 96% pre-pandemic employment rate in April 2019.  Eastern Visayas ranked 4th among regions with high employment rate.

Unemployment rate in Eastern Visayas stood at 5% percent in April 2021 or about 99.4 thousand of the region’s labor force. This figure is 9.3 percentage points lower than the double-digit 14.3% unemployment rate recorded in April 2020. This is also lower compared with the 7.6% unemployment rate recorded in January 2021. Eastern Visayasis the 4th among regions with low unemployment rate. 

The underemployed persons or those employed persons who express 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 working hours was estimated at 292 thousand persons in
April 2021. This number represents 15.5% of the total employed persons, 6.3 and 5.7 percentage points lower than the 21.8% and 21.2% underemployment rate recorded in April 2020 and January 2021, respectively.  Eastern Visayas and NCR which both posted 15.5% underemployment rate ranked 6th lowest among regions. (PSA-RSSO VIII)