Unemployment rate drops to 4.4% in Nov

The number of jobless Filipinos dropped in November, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday, as the labor market improved.

The country’s unemployment rate was recorded at 4.4 percent, from October’s three-month high of 5.5 percent but higher than November last year’s 3.2 percent.

This translates to 2.25 million unemployed Filipinos, lower than the 2.54 million recorded in October 2025 but higher than 1.66 million in the same month last year.

Meanwhile, underemployment — which counts as those looking for more work or an extra job — declined to 10.4 percent, down from 12.0 percent and 10.8 percent a month and year earlier, respectively.

The number of underemployed individuals stood at 5.11 million. These are workers who express a desire for additional hours in their current job, an additional job, or a new job with longer hours.

Employment rate, meanwhile, recorded an uptick of 95.6 percent, up from 95.0 percent recorded a month earlier but lower than the 96.8 percent last year. The number of individuals with jobs reached 49.26 million.

The country’s Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in November was registered at 64.0, higher than the 63.6 percent a month earlier but lower than the 64.6 percent recorded a year earlier.

Source: Manila Times

Philippine 2025 inflation slows to 1.7%, a 9-yr low

Inflation in the Philippines climbed at the end of 2025 as late-season storms and holiday demand pushed food prices upward, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

The December reading came in at 1.8 percent, up from 1.5 percent in November. Even so, inflation remained subdued, staying within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 1.2- to 2-percent forecast range for the month.

It was also above the 1.5-percent median estimate of 11 economists polled by the Inquirer.

The result capped 2025 with a full-year average inflation rate of 1.7 percent, the slowest since 2016, when it stood at 1.3 percent. This marks the 10th consecutive month that inflation undershot the central bank’s 2- to 4-percent target.

Higher food costs

Reversing the previous month’s decline in food costs, higher prices in December were driven by late-season typhoons and holiday demand, PSA Undersecretary and National Statistician Dennis Mapa said.

Food and nonalcoholic beverages, which make up nearly a third of the consumer basket, rose 1.4 percent in December. This accounted for 97.5 percent of the overall inflationary pressure for the month.

According to Mapa, while rice prices continued to decline, higher vegetable costs—driven by Typhoon “Uwan’s” impact on farms—surged to 11.6 percent in December, up from 4 percent, offsetting the rice price drop.

Holiday demand also contributed to the pressure, with price increases seen in meat, flour, bread and bakery products.

Economists at Chinabank Research, who expect inflation to inch up in 2026, said inflation remains under control despite the December uptick.

“Still, barring new shocks, price pressures are projected to remain manageable moving forward,” they said. “This outlook for benign inflation would likely allow the BSP to offer more support to the economy through additional policy rate cuts.”

On Dec. 11, the BSP had already slashed the policy rate by a quarter point to 4.5 percent to cushion the economy from the third-quarter slowdown, partly due to the widening fallout from the flood control scandal.

Purchasing power

John Paolo Rivera, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said price pressures were broadly contained for the year, but typhoon-related spikes could temper fourth-quarter growth.

“This low inflation (full-year average) supports household purchasing power, but the disaster-related price increases likely coincided with lost incomes and disrupted activity, which could temper consumption and shave some momentum off Q4 growth,” he said.

“Overall, inflation is not the constraint, as the bigger issue for Q4 is weather shocks and execution, not just prices,” Rivera added.

Reflecting cautious optimism, Jonathan Ravelas, senior adviser at Reyes Tacandong & Co., said the full-year average gives consumers more spending power, but the December spike shows that short-term risks remain.

“The impact is mixed: higher food prices may pinch wallets in the short term, but overall low inflation supports consumption and keeps the economy resilient. Still, upside risks to inflation remain,” he said.

For its part, the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev) said the Philippine economy was on track to remain resilient against price pressures despite ongoing headwinds.

Momentum

“Building on this momentum, the government will continue to pursue prudent fiscal and monetary coordination and advance structural reforms to sustain the downward inflation trend,” DepDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the record-low full-year average inflation reflected the government’s “strong, coordinated approach,” noting that it came in below the 4.2 percent global inflation rate projected by the International Monetary Fund for 2025.

“The DOF is committed to implement necessary measures to keep inflation manageable and ensure that Filipino families are protected from price shocks,” Finance Secretary Frederick Go said.

Source: Inquirer

Fewer Filipinos are saying ‘I do’

They say it’s easy to get married, but hard to stay married.

And in the Philippines, it seems harder just to say “I do” at the altar.

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that marriages declined for the second consecutive year in 2024, down 10.2 percent to 371,825 from 414,000 in 2023—well below prepandemic levels.

Many would say economic pressures, evolving social norms and the high cost of annulment—sometimes reaching half a million pesos—are keeping couples from tying the knot. Divorce is still off the table, making marriage a high-stakes gamble for many.

Or maybe, for some, it’s not economic in nature but purely philosophical.

What’s love gotta do with it?

Enter Michael de Jesus, president of the Development Bank of the Philippines, and his partner, actress, Miss Universe 1969 Gloria Diaz. They’ve been together for 29 years. And no, they’re still not married—even though Diaz’s past marriage with Bong Daza had long been annulled.

“I was always scared. But, actually, when you’re not married, you work harder. The bonds are just as tight,” De Jesus says.

They met in 1996 when he was 37 with thick black hair. Now it’s mostly white and thinning, he notes in jest, while Diaz, eight years his senior, still looks far younger.

“We just evolved. We didn’t really discuss it,” he adds.

Still, this doesn’t mean marriage is completely off the table, De Jesus insists.

“You don’t put definitive things on—you’ll never get married or you will. It just kinda happens or doesn’t happen,” he says.

For the couple, commitment trumps ceremony. They navigate life together daily, sharing financial, emotional and spiritual support—proving that decades-long love doesn’t necessarily need a wedding certificate.

“Whether or not we’re married, we’ll always be there for each other—financially, spiritually, everything. Physically, financially, spiritually, everything,” he says.

In this economy?

Still, of course, economic realities play a major role in why many couples delay or skip marriage.

An earlier report by the Inquirer, citing the 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey, found that the proportion of women aged 15 to 49 who were cohabiting or living with their partners “as if married” quadrupled over three decades—from just 5 percent in 1993 to 19 percent in 2022.

Meanwhile, the 2021 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study found that about 2.4 million Filipinos aged 15 to 24 were already living with a partner outside of marriage.

Weddings, household expenses and raising children can be financially daunting—especially in a country where divorce is not available, and annulment can often cost more than the wedding itself.

As it is, Facebook users have pointed out that the tedious and expensive annulment process, coupled with the absence of divorce laws, is a major reason many Filipinos hesitate to get married.

“If there’s no way out, why go in?” one Facebook user quips.

De Jesus himself says he has witnessed many of his friends get separated.

“A lot of marriages are breaking up. It’s very easy to get married. It’s hard to stay married,” he says.

Another reason cited by netizens is domestic violence. Some note that certain abuses may only surface after couples are legally married—situations they could more easily leave if they remain in a cohabiting arrangement.

Call for laws

“Call on our legislators to pass laws that will improve and simplify the annulment process and strengthen further our current laws on violence against women and children (VAWC),” a netizen comments.

As of writing, divorce is still illegal in the Philippines, making it one of the last two countries in the world, along with Vatican City, without a divorce statute.

On the other hand, same-sex marriage remains contentious, meaning LGBTQ+ couples are still legally barred from marrying in the Philippines.

Some netizens note that if civil partnerships or same-sex marriage were legalized, the number of formal unions in the country could rise.

In any case, today’s marriage statistics reflects a broader trend: more Filipinos are choosing cohabitation over formal marriage for practical reasons, balancing long-term commitment with economic realities and evolving social norms.

Source: Inquirer