The Philippines' labor productivity — measured by real gross domestic product (GDP) per person employed — grew 2.5% year on year in the April-to-June quarter, reaching P120,226, according to BusinessWorld.

The pace marked a slowdown from the 4.1% expansion recorded in the same period a year earlier, although it was slightly higher than the 2.3% growth posted in the first quarter of the year.

The indicator, as presented in the report, is computed by dividing inflation-adjusted GDP by the total number of people employed. The P120,226 figure therefore corresponds to the average real economic output attributable to each employed person over the April-to-June period, expressed in pesos.

Labor productivity is widely used as a gauge of economic efficiency. Because the measure combines output and employment, its movement can reflect shifts on either side: growth strengthens when real GDP rises faster than the number of workers, and it eases when employment expands ahead of output. Since output per worker anchors how much an economy produces for a given workforce, sustained productivity growth is conventionally treated as a building block for rising output and incomes over the long run, which is part of why the quarterly readings draw attention. Statisticians commonly track the metric alongside broader national accounts data to assess trends in how effectively an economy converts labor into goods and services.

With the latest data, year-on-year productivity growth in the Philippines has moved from 4.1% in the year-earlier quarter to 2.3% in the first quarter and 2.5% in the April-to-June period. Readings for the remaining quarters of the year will show how the pace compares with the 2.3%–2.5% range recorded across the first half.