PSA: Labor force participation dipped, unemployment steady

The country’s labor force participation slightly declined in December 2025, while unemployment remained unchanged from the previous month, according to the latest Labor Force Survey released by the Philippine Statistics Authority Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa, the national statistician and civil registar general, recently.

- Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/BRP

Data showed that the labor force participation rate stood at 64.4% in December 2025, lower than the 65.1% recorded in December 2024 but higher than the 64.0% posted in November 2025.

This translates to 51.69 million Filipinos aged 15 years and over who were either employed or unemployed during the period. The figure was slightly lower than the 51.81 million recorded a year earlier but higher than the 51.52 million in November 2025.

The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.4% in December 2025, unchanged from November but higher than the 3.1% recorded in December 2024.

In terms of magnitude, about 2.26 million Filipinos were unemployed in December 2025, up from 1.63 million a year earlier and slightly higher than the 2.25 million recorded in November.

The employment rate also held at 95.6%, unchanged from the previous month but lower than the 96.9% in December 2024.