Weak growth holds back December employment
Tepid economic growth weighed heavily on labor demand in December, pushing unemployment higher despite the usual boost from Christmas holiday hiring and increased labor force participation.
The latest Labor Force Survey released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that more Filipinos were jobless in December, with the number rising to 2.26 million.
This was up slightly from 2.25 million unemployed Filipinos in November. However, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.4 percent.
Year-on-year, the number of unemployed Filipinos fell sharply from 1.63 million, or 3.1 percent. State statisticians attributed this to the 550,000 decline in jobs in the construction sector.
The holiday season usually lifts employment as businesses ramp up short-term hiring to meet higher demand.
But according to Leonardo Lanzona, economist at Ateneo de Manila University, unemployment levels still increased due to the weak economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2025, which slowed to a 16-year low of 3 percent. The slump was driven by a nearly 42 percent contraction in public construction spending.
Mixed performance
“The overall economic slowdown in the last quarter weighed heavily on the labor market despite the increase in informal short-term jobs during the holidays,” he said.
Month on month, National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said the unchanged unemployment rate reflected mixed employment performance across industries.
“Some industries saw higher employment, while others recorded declines. They canceled each other out, which is why the numbers and rates were more or less flat,” Mapa said.
Another factor keeping the unemployment rate flat was the increase in labor force participation, with more Filipinos entering the job market. The labor force expanded to 51.69 million in December from 51.52 million in November.
