Manila: An official of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is optimistic about the improvement of labor participation in the last quarter of 2025 given the seasonal uptick in demand. National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa, in a briefing for the September 2025 labor force participation figures, highlighted that around 50 million Filipinos were employed in December 2024, which was higher than the average in previous months. He attributed this to an increase in demand for several sub-sectors due to the holidays.

According to Philippines News Agency, Mapa expressed confidence that the holiday season would lead to a further increase in the number of workers as the country moves into the fourth quarter. For September 2025, the employment rate improved slightly to 96.2 percent from the previous month’s 96.1 percent, although it was slightly lower than the year-ago figure of 96.3 percent.

Furthermore, the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR), covering those aged 15 and up, declined to 64.5 percent from 65.7 percent last September. The level from a year ago was also higher at 65.1 percent. Mapa explained that this decrease was mainly due to a lower number of students participating in the labor force during their school break, who then had to resign from work to return to school. Additionally, some individuals prioritized family duties, especially those employed as household help, while others were still waiting for responses to their job applications.

Employment as household help, categorized under domestic services, was one of the primary reasons for the decline in labor participation, with the number in this category falling by approximately 573,000. Despite this drop in LFPR, PSA data showed that domestic employment rates improved to 96.2 percent in September 2025 from 96.1 percent in the previous month.