MANILA — Agriculture continued to be a major source of employment in the Philippines, but new data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that many jobs in the sector remain seasonal, prompting calls for long-term reforms.

The PSA reported that agriculture employed 10.44 million Filipinos in October, accounting for 21.5 percent of the country’s 48.62 million workers and ranking second only to the services sector. This was slightly higher than the sector’s 21.2 percent share of total employment in October 2024.

Compared with July, agricultural employment increased by 1.85 million in October from around 8.5 million, or 18.5 percent of total jobs during the period. This marked the largest employment gain among all major sectors, which Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel said likely reflected seasonal harvest cycles rather than sustained improvements.

PSA data showed that about 88 percent of workers in agriculture were engaged in farming and forestry, while nearly 12 percent were in fishing and aquaculture.

Tiu Laurel said the recurring seasonality of agricultural jobs underscores the need for long-term reforms in the sector.

“If the Department of Agriculture can create more permanent jobs by building the right infrastructure, including food hubs, cold storage facilities, agricultural ports, and food processing complexes, then we will not only uplift the lives of those who till our lands and fish our seas. We will also position agriculture as a far stronger contributor to the broader economy,” he said.

The PSA also reported that agriculture accounted for 32.9 percent of the country’s 2.54 million underemployed Filipinos in October, or nearly four out of every ten workers seeking more or better work.

“Agriculture can create jobs quickly, but the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture is to ensure those jobs become lasting and stable,” Tiu Laurel said.