The Philippine labor market demonstrated continued stability and marked improvement in job quality in October 2025, according to the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev). This assessment follows the release of the October 2025 Labor Force Survey (LFS) results by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The key takeaway is a significant increase in the availability of better-quality and higher-paying jobs for Filipinos.
Underemployment Falls: The underemployment rate—the percentage of employed persons seeking additional work—decreased to 12.0 percent in October 2025, down from 12.6 percent in October last year. This improvement was primarily driven by a drop of 176,000 in visibly underemployed individuals, particularly in “other service activities” and “agriculture and forestry.”
Job Quality Improves: Key indicators of employment quality showed a strong upswing:
Wage and Salary Workers in private establishments increased by 863,000.
Middle- and High-Skilled Workers grew by 432,000.
Full-time employment increased by 564,000.
Workforce Expansion: The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) rose to 63.6 percent, indicating that one million individuals joined the workforce. Total employment reached 48.6 million, an increase of 463,000 from the previous year.
“October’s labor market reflects continued progress in improving the quality of work available to Filipinos,” said DEPDev Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.
The Secretary acknowledged the rise in the unemployment rate to 5.0 percent (up from 3.9 percent in October 2024) but noted that the full-year unemployment rate of 4.7 percent remains favorable, beating the Philippine Development Plan’s (PDP) annual target and being lower than many regional peers, including China and India.
To sustain these gains and enhance long-term resilience, DEPDev is focused on a strategic approach centered on innovation, skills development, and investment attraction:
Digital Transformation: Innovation and digital technologies will be leveraged to enhance employment services, better integrate labor market information for industry-skills matching, and expand skills training.
Skills Development: The government will boost workforce competitiveness by accelerating learning pathways and expanding lifelong learning opportunities, equipping workers with in-demand skills such as digital literacy, green technology capabilities, and expertise in higher-value services.
Policy Implementation: Accelerating quality employment generation relies on the whole-of-society implementation of the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Plan 2025-2034 and the PDP 2023-2028.
Attracting Investment: The government will utilize landmark policies, such as the Tatak Pinoy Strategy (institutionalized by the Tatak Pinoy Act), to identify priority sectors with strong potential for value-added production, export growth, and employment generation.
“Guided by these plans, the government will boost workforce competitiveness… equipping workers with in-demand skills such as digital literacy, green technology capabilities, and expertise in higher-value services,” Secretary Balisacan concluded.
