Despite widespread access to basic education, nearly 25 million Filipinos—or about one in every five people aged 10 to 64 years old—are still “not functionally literate,” according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
According data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, the number of working children aged 5 to 17 dropped to 863,000 in 2024 from 1.09 million in 2023 and 1.48 million in 2022. This marks a significant milestone in the country’s fight against child labor, bringing figures even lower than the pandemic-era low of 872,300 in 2020.
Rice prices continued to ease in early May, indicating a potential further slowdown in inflation after headline inflation decelerated in April to its slowest pace since November 2019.
Foreign investment approvals plunged 82 percent in the first quarter to a total P27.99 billion compared to P155.26 billion in the same period last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The Philippine labor market showed a slight increase in unemployment in March, with the jobless rate rising to 3.9 percent from 3.8 percent in February, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) has thrown its support behind the government's efforts to boost pork supply and curb rising food costs, while urging authorities to suspend and reassess newly issued import allocation guidelines that it says could disrupt established supply chains.
The Board of Investments (BOI) retained its position as the country's top investment promotion agency in the first quarter of 2026, accounting for nearly half of all approved investments despite a sharp decline from the record levels posted a year earlier.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region XI on Friday firmly dismissed false reports claiming President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ordered the suspension of garbage collection in Davao City. Officials clarified the measure was a purely regional decision, with no input or direction from the President.
While headline inflation slowed to 6.8 percent in May from 7.2 percent in April, core inflation—which strips out volatile items—picked up to 4.1 percent from 3.9 percent, a key signal that underlying price pressures are strengthening, the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said on Friday.