Employment Situation in SOCCSKSARGEN Region (Based on the Preliminary Results of April 2022 LFS).

The total fisheries production during the first semester of 2022 reached 156,591 metric tons. It went up by 4.0 percent from the output of150,900 metric tons in 2021. Increases in production during the semester were traced from commercial, marine and inland municipal fisheries, while aquaculture reported a drop in production

The external trade in goods in SOCCSKSARGEN Region in January 2022 reached US$177.044 million, it grew by 19.4 percent from US$148.330 million in January 2021 (Table 1).

The Inflation Rate for the Bottom 30% Income Households in SOCCSKSARGEN Region slowed down to 3.1% in March 2022 from 3.7% in February 2022. Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, at 7.5%, recorded the highest inflation among the commodity groups. Higher inflation were also noted in Alcoholic, Beverages and Tobacco (from 3.0% to 3.9%); Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House (from 1.5% to 2.3%); Transport (from 2.0% to 2.3%) and Recreation and Culture (from 4.8% to 4.9%).

The total external trade in goods in SOCCSKSARGEN Region in March 2022 totaled to US$230.267 million, up by 10.4 percent from US$208.578 million in March 2021 (Table 1).

The Inflation Rate for the Bottom 30% Income Households stood at 4.5% in February 2022 from the same figure the previous month. Recreation and Culture, albeit lower from 5.0% in January 2022, was the highest inflation among the commodity groups at 4.8% in February 2022.

The Inflation Rate for the Bottom 30% Income Households of SOCCSKSARGEN Region slowed-down to 4.5% in January 2022 from 5.5% in December 2021. Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels posted the highest inflation rate among the 11 major commodity groups in the market basket at 7.8% from 7.2% the previous month. Price upticks were also noted in Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House (from 1.9% to 2.0%) and Communication (from 0.7% to 0.8%).

The external trade in goods in SOCCSKSARGEN Region in April 2022 totaled to US$284.225 million, up by 77.0 percent from US$160.557 million in April 2021 (Table 1).

The external trade in goods in SOCCSKSARGEN Region in May 2022 amounted to US$314.075 million, more than double the US$147.510 million in May 2021 (Table 1).

The Labor Force Survey (LFS) is a quarterly survey of households conducted nationwide by the PSA to gather data on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population.