The Philippine labor market showed modest improvement in March, with unemployment easing slightly, though broader indicators suggest lingering pressures on job quality and workforce participation.
Philippine exports surged to a record USD8.17 billion in March, the highest monthly level since the Philippine Statistics Authority began tracking merchandise trade in 1991. The milestone was powered largely by sustained global demand for electronics, reinforcing the sector’s dominance in the country’s export basket.
Rice and corn production declined in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting lingering damage from late 2025 typhoons that disrupted planting schedules and destroyed standing crops across key farming regions.
The Philippine Statistics Authority said the country’s agriculture and fisheries sector produced goods worth P1.79 trillion in 2025 at constant 2018 prices, with Central Luzon emerging as the top contributor.
Average farmgate prices of dry palay across the Philippines climbed to P23.91 per kilo, up 28 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, signaling firmer earnings for farmers amid shifting supply conditions.
The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) are moving to streamline government payment processes, aiming to ease long-standing cash flow problems that have delayed infrastructure projects and strained contractors doing business with the state.
East West Banking Corporation (EastWest) highlighted the key role of employers in improving Filipinos’ retirement readiness at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-subsidized PERA@Work forum.
More than 1,500 young children in El Nido will benefit from a new early education initiative called CENTEX Early Grades, launched through cooperation between the El Nido local government, DepEd Palawan, Palawan State University, and Ayala Foundation.