Joseph Azil Buena

Fewer Filipinos aged 15 and above are actively working or seeking employment in the labor force, according to the latest Labor Force Survey by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), conducted from March 8 to 28 and released on May 7.

Photo Courtesy of The STAR/Michael Varcas.

Estimates from the PSA show that the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in March of this year was at 62.9 percent or around 49.96 million Filipinos from ages 15 and over, a drop from February 2025 at 64.5 percent.

Compared to recent months, the LFPR in March reached its lowest point since January 2024, when approximately 61.1 percent of eligible workers participated in or expressed interest in joining the labor force nationwide.

The youth LFPR, or the number of people within the 15–25 age group actively participating in the labor force, also declined at the same time—from 31.1 percent in February to 29.4% in March.

The LFPR is calculated by taking the ratio between the number of people in the labor force aged 15 and above versus the total population in that age group.

In line with this, the state statistics bureau also recorded slight increases in both the number of Filipinos without jobs and those with insufficient hours of labor in March.

After recording the lowest unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2025 in February at 3.8 percent, the rate rose to 3.9 percent, accounting for approximately 2 million Filipinos who remain jobless.

This would mean that the nationwide employment rate in March dipped to 96.1 percent or 48.02 million, a decrease of at least one million employed persons in March 2024 and February 2025, both recording around 49.15 million with jobs.

Youth employment rate also declined from 89.6 percent last February to 89.0 percent this March.

Unlike the LFPR, the employment rate is the percentage of employed workers within the entire labor force—which includes all active workers, and those searching for a job.

Both employment and unemployment rates mirror that of the PSA’s year-on-year data in March 2024.

In terms of the underemployment rate, the percentage of workers with fewer hours of work in March 2025 increased to 13.4 percent, from 10.1 percent in February 2025 and 11.0 percent in March 2024.

According to PSA, 6.44 million of the 48.02 million employed Filipinos showed interest in either working additional hours, taking on an additional job, or being employed in a new job with more hours.

The services sector continued to employ a large number of workers, with 62.0 percent, followed by the agriculture and industry sectors, which accounted for 20.1 percent and 17.9 percent of the national labor force, respectively.

From February this year, jobs in administrative and support services, education, manufacturing, information and communication, and accommodation and food service activities saw the highest growth in the number of employees by March.

Meanwhile, those in construction, wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, fishing and aquaculture, and public administration, defense, and compulsory social security experienced significant workforce reductions.