Building Safe and Secure Communities 111

Labor and Employment

The labor market situation in the region was affected as the government-imposed restrictions from March to June 2020 to mitigate theadverseeffectsof CoVID-19. In 2020, the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) of the region stood at 62.9 percent out of the 3.212 million people aged 15 years older and over. Of the 2.02 million workforcesin the region, around 91 percent or roughly 1.84 million individuals were employed or at work, a dropped from 95.6 percent recorded in 2019.

Unemployment rose to 9.1 percent in 2020 from 4.4 percent in 2019, translated to 95.79 thousand more unemployed workers in 2020. On the other hand, the underemployment rate whichincreased to 22.2 percent in 2020 from 19.7percent the previous yearresulted to 7.68 thousand more underemployed workers than the 389.14 thousand recorded in 2019(Figure 2.3).

As of December 29, 2020, 768 establishments in the region implemented Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA), 1,766 establishments temporarily closed affecting 20,642 workers, 32 establishments permanently closed with 373 affected workers, and 237 establishments reduced their workforce affecting 3,690 workers.

Figure 2.3: Labor and Employment Data, Region XII, CY 2019 and 2020

Source: PSA XII

Inflation and Prices

The CY 2020 prices for all items in the region posted an average inflation rate of 3.1 percent as compared to 2.8 percent in CY 2019. The CY 2020 Inflation rate for the region is lower than the target of 5 percent.

Across provinces, Cotabato Province posted the highest inflation rate at 4.5 percent while South Cotabato Province pinned a 2.1 percent mark. By commodity group, the following