NSCB - Economic and Financial Data - Meta Data - Real Sector

Real Sector > Employment
Last certified: 04/25/2006
Last update: 04/25/2006

Contact Person

Ms. Socorro D. Abejo
Household Statistics Department,
National Statistics Office,
R. Magsaysay St., Sta. Mesa,
Manila, Philippines

Phone: 63 2 7160298
Fax: 63 2 7160404
E-mail: S.Abejo@census.gov.ph

Dissemination Formats

Hardcopy
(x) News release ( ) Weekly ( ) monthly
(x) quarterly bulletin (x) Other

Electronic
(x) On-line country bulletin board or database
(x) Diskette ( ) CD ROM ( ) Other

The Data: Coverage, Periodicity, and Timeliness
Coverage characteristics	Data are disseminated on the total number of employed persons. "Employed persons" are defined as persons aged 15 years old and over who were reported to have: (1) worked, even for an hour, during the reference period; or (2) held a job/owned a business, even though not at work during the reference period because of temporary illness/injury, vacation or leave of absence, bad weather or strike/labor dispute or other reasons. Likewise, persons who are expected to report for work or to start operation of a farm or business enterprise within two weeks from the date of the enumerator's visit, are considered to be employed. The data are obtained from the Labor Force Survey (LFS) with the household as the reporting unit. The survey covers about 51,000 households in 2,835 PSUs of which 330 were certainty PSUs and 2,505 were non-certainty PSUs. Surveys are conducted every second week up to the end of the reference period. The reference period for the quarterly survey is the "past week" (last seven days prior to the date of visit of the enumerator. The published data are not seasonally adjusted
Periodicity	Quarterly.
Timeliness	6 weeks after the end of the reference quarter ending January, April, July and October.
Access by the Public
Advance dissemination of release calendar	An advance release calendar that gives one-quarter ahead notice of the precise release dates is announced through a regular press release of the NSCB. Information on the release dates is also disseminated by the following means:(1) the consolidated data release calendar of designated statistics posted at the NSCB website (www.nscb.gov.ph) . (2) the NSO release calendar posted at the NSO website (www.census.gov.ph) .
Simultaneous release to all interested parties	The data are released simultaneously to all interested parties by issuing a press release, which is faxed by the NSO to leading newspapers. The public may obtain a copy of the press release from Databank and Information Services Division (Phone: 63 2 7137081) (Telefax: 63 2 7131234).
Integrity
Dissemination of terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including ... confidentiality of individual responses	The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the terms and conditions of the Commonwealth Act No. 591 (August 19, 1940), Presidential Decree No.418 (March 20, 1974), Executive Order No. 121 (January 30, 1987), and Executive Order No. 352 (July 1, 1996). Commonwealth Act No. 591: Created the National Statistics Office, then known as the Bureau of Census and Statistics, and authorizes it to prepare for and undertake all censuses of population, agriculture, industry and commerce. Section 4 states that data furnished to NSO will be kept strictly confidential and shall not be used as evidence in court for purposes of taxation, regulation or investigation; nor shall such data or information be divulged to any person except in the form of summaries or statistical tables in which no reference to an individual, corporation, association, partnership, institution or business enterprise shall appear. This provision is printed in survey questionnaires. Presidential Decree No. 418: Reconstituted the Bureau of Census and Statistics as new agency to be known as the National Census and Statistics Office (NCSO), under the administrative supervision of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). Executive Order No. 121: Renamed the NCSO to which is now known as the National Statistics Office (NSO), the major statistical agency responsible for generating general purpose statistics and undertaking such censuses and surveys as may be designated by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). Section 18 states that "agencies conducting statistical inquiries be responsible for ensuring the timely release of the results thereof to the general public" Executive Order No. 352 (EO 352): This order lists the designated activity/statistics, the implementing agencies, and the frequency of data collection, geographic disaggregation and schedule of data dissemination. Section 2 requires the dissemination of the data from the designated statistical activities to the general public. Section 4 states that any modification, addition or deletion from the list needs the approval of the NSCB, the highest policy making body on statistical matters in the country. Copies of Commonwealth Act No. 591 and Presidential Decree No. 418 may be obtained from the NSO (see address or contact person for details). Copies of EO 121 and EO 352 may be obtained from the NSCB, 2/F Midland Buendia Bldg., Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., Ext., Makati City, Philippines. (Fax: 632 8909408; Email: info@nscb.gov.ph).
Identification of internal government access to data before release	An advance copy of the press release issuing the LFS results is submitted to the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), 2 days ahead of the scheduled date of the press release, for clearance. Once clearance by NEDA is received, the President of the Philippines is immediately furnished with a copy, and the NSO issues the press release on the scheduled date.
Identification of ministerial commentary on the occasion of statistical releases	The press release is not accompanied by ministerial commentary.
Provision of information about revision and advance notice of major changes in methodology	The data are preliminary when first released, and the preliminary status of the data is indicated in the press releases and special releases. The data become final when published in the quarterly "Integrated Survey of Households (ISH) Bulletin on Labor Force". The NSO plans and designs the sampling procedures and presents these to the Technical Committee on Sampling Design of the National Statistical Coordination Board for approval. In choosing the data to collect for the LFS, the NSO consults data users from the government and the private sector, evaluates survey items against the recommendations of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and presents the data collection plan to the Inter-Agency Committee on Labor, Income and Productivity Statistics under the NSCB, for final approval. The public are informed in advance of major changes in methodology.
Quality
Dissemination of documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics	Each issue of the quarterly "Integrated Survey of Households (ISH) Bulletin on Labor Force" publishes a description of the methodology and data sources in the chapters on Survey Design and Concepts, Definitions and Explanation. (See also summary methodology)
Dissemination of ... that support statistical cross- checks and provide assurance of reasonableness	The "Integrated Survey of Households (ISH) Bulletin on Labor Force" publishes detailed employment data broken down by various demographic and economic characteristics: Employed Persons by Highest Grade Completed, by Sex and Major Occupation Group/Major Industry Group, by Region; Employed Persons by Class of Worker, by Sex and Major Occupation/Major Industry Group, by Region; Employed Persons by Total Hours Worked During the Past Week, by Sex and Major Occupation/Major Industry Group, by Region; Unemployed Persons Looking for Work by Job Search Method and Sex, by Region; Unemployed Persons Looking for Work by Number of Weeks, Looking for Work by Sex, by Region. The bulletin also publishes information on response rates and comparative tables and analysis/highlights with employment data derived from previous quarters/years of the Labor Force Surveys.