MANILA, Philippines -- More than one in 10 people in the Philippines work in the unregulated "informal sector," according to a government survey highlighting job scarcity for the rapidly growing population of 90 million.

The National Statistics Office 2008 poll released Friday found almost 10.5 million "informal sector operators," including 9.1 million who are self-employed and 1.3 million who run a family-operated farm or business.

By comparison the labor force in regulated work stood at 31.7 million as of October 2008, while the jobless rate was 6.8 percent and underemployment stood at 17.5 percent.

Some eight million other Filipinos work abroad.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines the informal sector as comprising "small-scale, self-employed activities, typically at a low level of organization and technology" and which are not regulated by the government.

When the modern sector does not provide enough job opportunities, rural migrants and urban dwellers find work in "micro-level production and distribution of goods and services" and similar jobs, an ILO advisory said.

The government survey said four in 10 informal sector workers were school dropouts and only 17.7 percent received any college education. Two in three are heads of families, it added.

More than 40 percent of the informal sector worked in farms, while about 30 percent were in the retailing industry.