Labor group Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) called for decent jobs and higher wages amid improvements in the country’s labor market in August.
The August Labor Force Survey (LFS) showed the number of employed Filipinos rising from 49.21 million in July to 49.79 million in August, while unemployment declined from 6 percent to 5.3 percent and underemployment fell from 12.9 percent to 11.9 percent.
‘Far from healthy’
SENTRO welcomed the gains but said the country’s jobs situation remained ‘far from healthy,’ pointing to the composition of the employment increase and the decline in working hours.
The labor group said the largest increase in employment from July to August came from unpaid workers in their own family-operated farm or business, followed by self-employed workers and those working for private households.
SENTRO said the same pattern was seen in the year-on-year increase in employment from August 2025 to August 2026.
‘This tells us something important about the nature of the employment being generated,’ SENTRO said.
‘An increase in the number of employed Filipinos does not necessarily mean an increase in the number of Filipinos finding stable, adequately paid jobs,’ it added.
The group said the increase in unpaid family workers, self-employed workers without employees and household workers raised questions about whether the economy was creating decent work or absorbing workers into precarious and low-income livelihoods.
Enough work, income
SENTRO also pointed to the decline in average working hours, which fell to 39.2 hours a week in August from 40.6 hours in July and 41 hours in August 2025.
It said the focus should therefore not only be on whether Filipinos have jobs, but whether those jobs provide enough work and income to live decently.
‘Encouraging’
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), meanwhile, welcomed the improvement in the August labor market, describing the increase in employment and decline in unemployment as encouraging.
Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino said the labor department would focus on ensuring that jobseekers are connected to opportunities, workers have relevant skills and employment assistance leads to more sustainable work.
‘Our task is to make sure that jobseekers are connected to opportunities, workers have relevant skills, and employment assistance leads to more sustainable work,’ Tolentino said.
Tolentino emphasized that DOLE’s efforts go beyond improving labor market indicators, highlighting the need to ensure that more Filipinos gain access to decent, productive and sustainable work.
‘Our success should be measured not only by how many workers we assist today, but by how many are able to move forward tomorrow through a job, new skills, an enterprise, or a better livelihood,’ Tolentino said.
Wage issue
SENTRO said the need for better-paying jobs was particularly urgent amid rising prices.
The group cited the Philippine Statistics Authority’s report showing that inflation accelerated to 7.2 percent in September, with food inflation at 6.7 percent and transport inflation at 14.6 percent.
SENTRO called for an immediate P200 across-the-board national wage increase to restore workers’ purchasing power and stimulate domestic consumption.
It also called for a genuine industrial policy backed by public investment, a public employment program that provides meaningful and productive work, stronger protection for workers in informal, precarious and platform-based employment, and a national dialogue on the cost-of-living crisis.
‘The August LFS tells us that Filipinos are willing to work. The challenge is whether the economy can provide them with enough work, decent wages and secure livelihoods,’ SENTRO said.