PHL unemployment rate declines to 6.4% in Oct.

The number of jobless Filipinos declined in October, the National Statistics Office reported on Thursday.   According to the Labor Force Survey, the unemployment rate slipped 6.4 percent in October from 7.1 percent in the same 2010 period.   "NCR (National Capital Region) posted the highest unemployment rate at 10.4 percent while Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao posted the lowest at 2.3 percent," the NSO said.   More males were unemployed, comprising 62.6 percent of the 2.7 million jobless Filipinos, NSO records showed.   Underemployed persons, or those seeking for additional work  hours to their present job or for an additional job or a new job with longer working hours, were estimated at 7.4 million, putting the underemployment rate at 19.1 percent from 19.6 percent.   The services sector was the country's top employer, accounting for 52.1 percent of the employed population, followed by the agriculture sector (33.4 percent) and the industry sector (14.5 percent). — CMA/VS, GMA News