Service sector continues to dive formal employment

THE NUMBER of workers in formal employment — those employed by establishments with 10 or more workers — numbered 6.14 million in August 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Citing the Integrated Survey on Labor and Employment (ISLE), the PSA said services remain the main engine of job creation, accounting for 72.4% of the total, or approximately 4.45 million workers. Industry accounted for 24.6% (about 1.51 million), with agriculture, forestry, and fishing took up the remaining 3%, or 182,799 employees, according to the highlights of the 2023/2024 ISLE Module on Employment of Specific Groups of Workers and Establishments’ Profile: August 2024, made public on Feb. 26.

Among establishments with 20 or more workers — a metric used for comparability with previous survey rounds — employment grew 2.8% between 2022 to 2024, equivalent to an increase of 150,842 workers to 5.52 million. Administrative and support service activities posted the largest headcount with 1.38 million workers (22.5%), followed by manufacturing with 1.13 million (18.5%) and wholesale and retail trade with 0.93 million (15.1%).

Employment remained heavily concentrated in the National Capital Region, which had 2.45 million workers, or 39.8% of the total. Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) and Central Visayas were also among the leading employers with one million (16.3%) and 568,625 (9.3%), respectively. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking