MANILA, Philippines?Vendors, sari-sari (variety) store owners, drivers of public utility vehicles and other self-employed workers now represent half of the country's 33-million workforce, according to a labor official.

Teresita Peralta, chief of the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), said on Wednesday, workers in the informal sector reached 16.5 million so far in 2009, due to the effect of the worldwide economic downturn.

Citing a recent survey of BLES, Peralta said most of the workers in the informal sector were displaced employees from companies, which shut down because of financial troubles.

According to the National Statistical Office, there were 10.5 million self-employed Filipinos in 2008.

The figure included 1.3 million workers employed in family-run businesses.

"We now see an increase in the number of workers in the informal sector and our initial findings is that we have at least 50 percent of the total (labor force) are now self-employed," Peralta said in a press briefing.

Peralta said the increase in the number of self-employed workers only showed the importance of the informal sector in keeping the economy afloat.

"We have a large economy and it is during this crisis that our informal sector comes to the fore," she said.

The informal sector, she added, also helped in keeping the country's unemployment rate to a manageable level.

Peralta said the unemployment rate during the first quarter of 2009 was recorded at around 7.7 percent, and they were expecting the final rate of unemployment for the month of April to be at the same level.

To help laid off workers, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) will hold a three-day job fair at the Luneta Grandstand in Manila from June 12-14.

Raymond Agravante, DOLE regional director in Metro Manila, said over 105,000 jobs in government-owned agencies and private companies would be available for prospective applicants.