In its statement on the latest February 2025 Labor Force Survey, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) conveniently focused on how much underemployment has declined, which somehow reaffirmed what a good job the government’s been doing to improve the quality of employment.
But blinding Filipinos with big numbers that appear positive and patting itself on the back has been the Marcos administration’s standard strategy to deflect from how bad the labor situation is, and from how bad a job it’s doing to really address it.
Not so absorbent labor market
Among the labor force figures that were conveniently ignored or downplayed was how most of the new jobs are in informal work and how unemployment has increased – both of which indicate continuing weakness in the labor market.
While the number of employed persons grew by 204,000 to 49.2 million in February 2025 from 49 million in February 2024, the number of unemployed also rose by 141,000 to 1.9 million from 1.8 million (although these may be statistically insignificant). Labor force participation meanwhile increased by 345,000 to 51.1 million. This shows that more Filipinos joined the labor force but the labor market couldn’t absorb all of them. The actual number of unemployed could be even bigger if millions of discouraged or unavailable workers no longer counted as jobless by official labor force data are also considered.
Meanwhile, worsening informality is driving the increase in employed persons, further belying government hype that the quality of work is improving. Employment may have grown by 204,000 but, based on IBON estimates, those in openly informal work rose by 326,000 to 20.6 million from 20.3 million, making up 42% of total employed.
Behind underemployment
The decrease in the number of underemployed by 1.1 million to 5 million in February 2025 from 6.1 million the year before doesn’t necessarily mean more Filipinos have found better quality work.
Underemployment could be lower because there could also be employed Filipinos who are discouraged from finding additional work or better job prospects due to the weak labor market.
Another factor could be the increase in those not in the labor force, most of whom are youth. The number of Filipinos not in the labor force increased by 593,000 to 28.2 million from 27.6 million. Of the increase, nearly 91% or 538,000 were from the youth or age15-24 years old. While there could be youth that are not in the labor force that decided to go back to school or acquire additional skills training, they may have opted to do so because of the lack of work opportunities. Some may also be unable to study or work at all due to the lack of resources and options.
Weak production sectors, slowing economy
Losses or minimal creation of jobs in the production sectors of agriculture and manufacturing are an indication of not only how bad the labor market is but of a slowing economy.
Looking at all February labor force survey rounds since these began in 2021, employment in the agriculture sector grew by 560,000 to 10.9 million in February 2022 and by 906,000 to 11.8 million in February 2023. But this has started to decline, falling by a huge 1.3 million to 10.5 million in 2024, and then by 584,000 to 9.9 million in 2025.
Meanwhile, there have been no significant increases in manufacturing employment. Jobs in the sector in February grew by 116,000 to 3.4 million in 2022, then fell by 134,000 to 3.5 million in 2023. This then increased by 288,000 to 3.65 million in 2024, followed by a slight decline by 61,000 to 3.59 million in 2025.
Taken together with the volatile labor market worsening quality of work, the massive job losses in production sectors are signs of a slowing economy. Growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) has slowed from 7.6% in 2022 to 5.5% in 2023 and increased negligibly to 5.7% in 2024.
Let’s get real
Ultimately, the actual situation of millions of Filipinos, not official statistics, are the main determinant of how bad the jobs situation is. Worsening poverty and hunger show that millions of Filipinos are struggling amid the lack of decent or no work.
The upcoming May 2025 elections is a chance for Filipinos to vote for leaders that are bold enough to push measures that will truly generate sustainable and decent employment. This can be achieved by directing substantial resources towards boosting domestic agriculture and industries that serve and produce the Filipino people’s needs, instead of over-reliance on imports and foreign investments.
