Philippines lags in Trade Barrier Index

The Philippines tumbled 35 places to 116th out of 122 countries in the 2025 edition of the International Trade Barrier Index (TBI), published biennially by nonprofit Tholos Foundation.

The country’s TBI score worsened to 5.25 in 2025 from 5.15 in 2023 on a 10-point scale where lower is better, lagging behind the global average of 4.22 and the East Asia & Pacific average of 4.20.

The index evaluates trade openness based on tariffs, nontariff barriers, services restrictions, and facilitation.

Trade Barrier Index

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Source: Business World

Jobless rate higher in April

Labor market conditions slightly worsened in April, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed on Friday, with the numbers of Filipinos without jobs or looking for more work rising from a month and a year earlier.

Unemployment edged up to 4.1 percent from 3.9 percent in March and the year-ago 4.0 percent, equivalent to an estimated 2.06 million jobless Filipinos — higher than the prior month's 1.93 million and the year-earlier 2.04 million.

Underemployment — a measure of those wanting more hours of work or an additional job — rose to 14.6 percent, unchanged from a year ago but higher than March's 13.4 million.

This was equivalent to an estimated 7.09 million Filipinos and was higher than the 6.44 million and 7.04 million respectively recorded in a month earlier and in April 2024.

Labor force expands

National Statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa explained that the rise in the jobless rate was caused by an increase in the number of people entering the labor force.

The labor force participation rate, which measures how much of the working-age population is employed or looking for work, rose to 63.7 percent in April, up from March's 62.9 percent but lower than April 2024's 64.1 percent.

Mapa said that not all of the 340,000 individuals that had joined the workforce were able to find employment.

The number of individuals with jobs reached 48.67 million, higher than March's 48.02 million and the year-ago 48.35 million.

The country's labor force numbered 50.73 million in April, up from 49.96 million in March and 50.39 million a year earlier.

The youth LFPR rose to 31.8 percent from 29.4 percent in the prior month, but eased from April 2024's 32.6 percent.

Unemployment in this sector rose to 11.5 percent from 11.0 percent in March and 10.5 percent a year ago, while underemployment eased to 13.4 percent from 14.1 percent and 13.8 percent a month and a year earlier.

The service sector remained the biggest employer with a 61.9-percent share, followed by agriculture at 20.6 percent and industry at 17.5 percent.

Wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons at 63.2 percent.

Wage hike worry

With the House of Representatives having approved a P200 per day pay hike for all minimum wage earners in the country, Mapa said the agency would be monitoring which sectors would be particularly affected should the bill become law.

"The PSA will monitor and look into which sectors show increases or decreases. Normally, different sectors are affected, but right now, we can't tell yet because it hasn't been implemented," he said.

"The impact on the different sub-sectors of our labor market may vary."

The proposal still has to be approved by the Senate, which last year passed a measure calling for a P100 increase, and any reconciled version needs to be passed by Congress as a whole.

Malacañang, meanwhile, said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would be weighing the economic impact before deciding whether to approve or veto the bill.

Lawmakers have come under fire from business groups, which said that a legislated nationwide wage hike disregards regional disparities and could lead to job losses. They also said that existing law states that wage-setting should be done by regional wage boards.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort agreed with the warning, saying "some businesses, especially those facing challenges on sales, could reduce workers due to higher wages or could even close down and lead to more job losses."

"Some foreign investors could also consider other countries with lower labor costs and overall cost of production, as another risk that could lead to foregone investment and employment opportunities, or could lead to some shift in operations to other countries with lower labor costs and overall production costs," he added.

Resilient labor market

Despite the slight uptick in unemployment, Socioeconomic Planning Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillion said that 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 percent set under the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028," she said in a statement.

"Also, we are optimistic about further improving our labor force in the months and years ahead, especially with the rollout of the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Plan and the influx of new investments."

Edillon outlined government efforts to boost jobseekers' and workers' employability, including improvements to the technical-vocational-livelihood track in senior high school, internships for new graduates and skills training.

To help workers stay adaptable, she stressed the need to prioritize a national policy on lifelong learning. Supporting this will be proper implementation of the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Programs.

Edillon also said that the government would keep pushing for measures that increase the productivity of local industries, especially those that offer better-quality jobs, to strengthen the labor market against global challenges.

"Attracting more investments to generate higher-quality and better-paying jobs, particularly in manufacturing and higher-value-added services, and expanding into new markets is essential to broadening our economy and opening up more job opportunities for Filipino workers," she said.

Source: Manila Times

PHL fell four spots on the Human Development Index ranking

The Philippines fell four spots on the Human Development Index (HDI) rankings, coming in at 117th in the 2023 evaluation, despite posting improving scores, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said.

In a statement, the UNDP said the Philippine score improved to 0.720, up from 0.714 in 2022 and 0.690 in 2019.

The index gauges a country’s health, education and standard of living.

“The Philippines’ HDI value for the year 2023 climbed to 0.720, reflecting an increase of 1.4% from the 2022 level; however, it remains below the average HDI for the East Asia and Pacific region,” the UNDP said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Philippines scored below East Asia and the Pacific’s average of 0.775 and the global average of 0.756.

Among neighboring countries, human development levels were “very high” in Hong Kong (8th), Singapore (13th), and Brunei Darussalam (60th).

Scores for Philippines, Singapore and China

The Philippines had a “high” human development level, as did Malaysia (67th), Thailand (76th), Vietnam (93rd), Indonesia (113rd) and Timor-Leste (142nd).

On the other hand, human development was classified as “medium” in Laos (147th), Myanmar (150th), and Cambodia (151st).

“Instead of seeing sustained recovery following the period of exceptional crises of 2020-2021, the report reveals unexpectedly weak progress. Excluding those crisis years, the meagre rise in global human development projected in this year’s report is the smallest increase since 1990,” the UNDP said.

The report also found that while global development is decelerating at an alarming rate, inequalities continue to widen between rich and poor countries.

“As traditional paths to development are squeezed by global pressures, decisive action is needed to move the world away from prolonged stagnation,” it said.

Life expectancy at birth is at 69.8 years in the Philippines, according to the Human Development Index. The expected years of schooling for Filipinos is 12.8, with the mean years of school is 10.

The Philippines also ranked 92nd in the gender inequality index with a score of 0.351, while its gender development score stood at 0.966.

The report also found that half of respondents worldwide think their jobs can be automated.

“An even larger share — six in ten — expect AI to impact their employment positively, creating opportunities in jobs that may not even exist today,” she said.

Around 13% of survey respondents fear artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to job losses while in low- and medium-HDI countries, 70% expect AI to increase their productivity.

Two-thirds anticipate using AI in education, health, or work within the next year.

“The choices we make in the coming years will define the legacy of this technological transition for human development,” Pedro Conceição, director of UNDP’s Human Development Report Office, said.

“With the right policies and focus on people, AI can be a crucial bridge to new knowledge, skills, and ideas that can empower everyone from farmers to small business owners.”

Source: Business World