Workers were seen busy atop an under-construction building in Quezon City on Thursday, 5 June 2025. On the same day, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading a P200 across-the-board minimum wage hike for private sector workers. Lawmakers voted 171-1-0 to pass House Bill No. 11376, paving the way for what could be the first legislated wage hike since the late 1980s.
Photo by Analy Labor for DAILY TRIBUNE
Malacañang welcomed the significant increase in the country’s labor force participation rate (LFPR), which has reached its highest level in two decades.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, Palace Press Officer and Presidential Communications Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said the development is “reflecting strong momentum in job creation under the Marcos administration.”
Citing reports from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Castro said the LFPR rose to 65.8 percent in May 2025, up from 63.7 percent in April 2025 and 64.8 percent in May 2024.
The figure translates to 52.32 million Filipinos aged 15 and above now either employed or actively seeking work — the highest number since April 2005.
From April to May 2025 alone, Castro touted that 1.58 million more Filipinos joined the labor force. For comparison, the labor force stood at 50.74 million in April 2025 and 50.97 million in May 2024.
“Alinsunod sa commitment ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. na mabigyan ng trabaho ang maraming Pilipino, nakapagtala ang Pilipinas ng mataas na labor force participation rate ngayong taon (In line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s commitment to provide jobs for more Filipinos, the Philippines has recorded a high labor force participation rate this year),” Castro said.
In addition to the surge in participation, Castro noted that the unemployment rate declined to 3.9 percent in May 2025, down from 4.1 percent in the same period last year.
“Masaya at malugod pong tinatanggap ng Pangulo ang ulat na ito. Nakikita natin ang konkretong resulta ng mga inisyatibo ng administrasyon para makalikha ng mas maraming trabaho (The President is happy and warmly welcomes this report. We are seeing the concrete results of the administration's initiatives to create more jobs),” Castro added.
With this, Castro reaffirmed the government’s commitment to further strengthening the labor market through continued investments in skills development, industry-matching initiatives, and nationwide job fairs under the Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines) agenda.
“The Marcos administration aims to further increase the number of Filipinos who will be given employment under the Bagong Pilipinas initiative,” she said.
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