MANILA — More Filipinos seem to be going farming these days, as underemployment in the agriculture sector shrank as of October 2017, latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
According to the PSA, underemployment in the agriculture sector totaled some 2.2 million workers in October 2017, much lower than the underemployment record of almost 3 million workers in the sector in the same month in 2016.
The PSA defines underemployed as those who are employed but want either more working hours in their present jobs or are seeking additional jobs or new jobs with longer working hours.
The agency said nearly 76 percent of those underemployed reported working less than 40 hours per week.
Some 22.6 percent reported working 40 hours or more, but were still searching for extra income sources.
About 1.7 percent reported having jobs but were not at work for some reasons, such as the workers were going on strike, were on leave, or were temporarily laid off by their employers.
The PSA said workers in the agricultural sector comprised 32.6 percent of the country’s total underemployed persons in October 2017.
The services sector accounted for the biggest share of 47.9 percent of the underemployed, while the industry sector had 19.5 percent of the underemployed then.
The PSA said the agriculture sector accounted for about a quarter of the country’s total labor force of 41.5 million workers as of October 2017. (PNA)
