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GMA Network
a day ago
- Business
- GMA Network
Jobless Filipinos rose to 2.06M in April 2025, says PSA
The number of Filipinos without jobs or livelihoods rose to over two million in April 2025 as more people entered the labor force, seeking jobs, during the period but only few were absorbed by the market, according to the results of the Philippine Statistics Authority's latest Labor Force Survey. At a press briefing on Friday, National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa reported that unemployed persons, ages 15 and above, increased slightly to 2.06 million in the fourth month of the year from 1.93 million in March 2025. Year-on-year, jobless individuals climbed by 23,000 from 2.04 million in April 2024, according to the PSA chief. As a percentage of 50.74 million participants in the labor force —who are actively looking for labor opportunities during the period — the number of unemployed persons translated to an unemployment rate of 4.1%, up from 3.9% in March and 4% in April last year. 'Dumami kasi ang mga kasama sa labor force, labor force participation, so siya 'yung factor… 'pag tumataas ang labor force participation, hindi naman lahat na-absorb lahat para maging employed persons,' Mapa said. (The increase in the number of those joining the labor force was the factor… when labor force participation rises, not everyone is absorbed to become employed persons.) Labor force participants grew by 340,000 from April 2024 and by about 780,000 from March 2025's 49.96 million. Of the 340,000 year-on-year growth in labor force participation, the PSA chief said about 317,000 became employed while 23,000 were not absorbed. 'Despite the slight uptick in unemployment, the Philippine labor market continues to demonstrate resilience amid global headwinds. We remain on track to meet our target unemployment range of 4.4% to 4.7% set under the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028,' said Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) officer-in-charge and Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie Edillon. —AOL, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
2 days ago
- Business
- GMA Network
PSA: Rice inflation seen to average negative in 2025
At a press conference in Quezon City on Thursday, National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa reported a sharper year-on-year deflation or 'negative inflation' in rice at -12.8% in May 2025 from -10.9% in April 2025. The retail price of the Philippines' staple food rice is expected to continue to go down, settling at a negative inflation rate for the whole of 2025, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Thursday. At a press conference in Quezon City on Thursday, National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa reported a sharper year-on-year deflation or 'negative inflation' in rice at -12.8% in May 2025 from -10.9% in April 2025. For the January to May period, rice inflation clocked in at -7.7%, according to the PSA chief. Last month also marked the 11th consecutive month of decline in rice's inflation print and the fifth month in a row that the rate of the staple's cost had been contracting. The trend of easing inflation for rice seen since August 2024 was consistent with the PSA's expectation that it will begin easing towards the second half of 2024 due to base effects, particularly when it began its uptrend in August 2023, as well as the impact of lower rice import tariff which took effect early July last year. 'The expectation is that it will continue to go down, definitely there are base effects. It will continue to be negative [inflation] for at least until August… but definitely the average for the whole year would be negative,' Mapa said. To illustrate the contraction in rice inflation seen last month, Mapa bared the year-on-year national average prices of regular, well-milled, and special rice varieties during the period. In particular, the following are the average prices of rice at the national level in May 2025: Regular milled: P43.19 per kilo from P51.11 per kilo in May 2024 Well-milled: P49.45 per kilo from P56.06 per kilo Special: P59.80 per kilo from P64.41 per kilo year-on-year The PSA chief also cited the government's ongoing P20 per kilo rice initiative aimed at easing the inflationary burden of those in the vulnerable sectors such as 4Ps beneficiaries, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and single parents. 'The P20 rice is already coming in various outlets,' Mapa said. In a separate statement, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it is 'expanding the reach of the P20 rice program and is studying a reduction in the suggested retail price (SRP) for imported rice—the national staple that dominates Filipino tables, especially among the poor.' The Department of Agriculture said that rice accounts for P9 of every P100 spent by the average Filipino. Among the bottom 30% of income households, the figure doubles. With the introduction of the P20 per kilo rice program in Bacolod City, the DA said the total number of outlets offering the subsidized grain grew to 87, exceeding the original target of 55 outlets by end-June. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed the DA to sustain the subsidized rice initiative through June 2028, to reach up to 60 million Filipinos. –NB, GMA Integrated News
