The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) – La Union Provincial Statistical Office carries out the May 2025 Labor Force Survey (LFS) from 08 to 28 May 2025 in randomly selected sample areas in the province.
The May 2025 LFS includes questions on volunteer work—shedding light on the contribution of unpaid efforts to community welfare and national development. The inclusion of rider questions on Volunteer Work Survey (VWS) by the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA) in May 2025 LFS is intended to produce reliable data on volunteerism within the labor force. This information helps highlight the potential economic contributions of volunteer work and can guide policymakers and program managers—both in the public and private sectors—in developing policies and programs that promote civic engagement, increase voluntary participation, and enhance volunteering infrastructure.
The LFS is an essential instrument in the formulation of policies and programs by lawmakers and other relevant agencies. The information that will be gathered will serve as a foundation for initiatives focusing on the creation of gainful employment and livelihood opportunities, the reduction of unemployment and underemployment, and the enhancement of workers' welfare.
The survey will be conducted by trained Statistical Researchers (SRs) who will visit a total of 92 sample households in six selected barangays in the province. Respondents are assured that all information gathered will be treated with strict confidentiality and will be solely for statistical purposes, in accordance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and Section 26 of Republic Act (RA) 10625, otherwise known as the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013.
Meanwhile, the PSA released results from the March 2025 LFS on 07 May 2025. Some of the highlights of the report in the country are as follows:
The country’s employment rate in March 2025 was estimated at 96.1 percent, the same rate estimated in March 2024. Employment rate in February 2025 was estimated at 96.2 percent.
In terms of levels, the number of employed persons in March 2025 was recorded at 48.02 million. This was lower than the number of employed persons in March 2024 and February 2025, both at 49.15 million.
In March 2025, the unemployment rate was registered at 3.9 percent, the same rate recorded in March 2024. In February 2025, the unemployment rate was estimated at 3.8 percent.
In terms of magnitude, the total number of unemployed individuals in March 2025 was registered at 1.93 million. This was lower than the number of unemployed persons in March 2024 at 2.00 million. In February 2025, the number of unemployed individuals was registered at 1.94 million.
The labor force participation rate (LFPR) in March 2025 was estimated at 62.9 percent, lower than the estimated LFPR in March 2024 at 65.3 percent and in February 2025 at 64.5 percent.
The reported LFPR in March 2025 translates to a total of 49.96 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and over who were in the labor force, or those who were either employed or unemployed. The number of individuals aged 15 years old and over who were in the labor force was 51.15 million in March 2024 and 51.09 million in February 2025.
On average, employed persons worked 41.2 hours per week. This was higher than the average hours worked in a week in March 2024 at 40.7 hours and in February 2025 at 41.1 hours.
About 64 thousand employed persons worked for exactly one hour in March 2025 or 0.13 percent of the total number of employed persons. This is lower than the recorded number in March 2024 at 68 thousand employed persons (0.14%), and that of February 2025 at 73 thousand employed persons (0.15%).
The underemployment rate in March 2025 increased to 13.4 percent, from 11.0 percent in March 2024 and 10.1 percent in February 2025.
In terms of magnitude, 6.44 million of the 48.02 million employed individuals expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work in March 2025.
SGD. DANITES E. TEÑIDO, PhD
Chief Statistical Specialist
/RBP
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