Philippine unemployment rate drops to 3.9% in August 2025

The Philippine unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in August 2025, with 2.03 million Filipinos jobless, a decrease from 2.59 million in July.

This improvement resulted in an employment rate of 96.1%, encompassing 50.1 million employed individuals.

The labor force participation rate increased to 65.1%, representing 52.13 million Filipinos aged 15 and above engaged in or seeking work.

Underemployment eased to 10.7% in August 2025, down from 14.8% in July 2025 and 11.2% in August 2024.

The services sector continues to be the largest employer, comprising 61.5% of the workforce.

Employees worked an average of 41 hours per week, a slight increase from 40.7 hours in August of the previous year.

However, five sub-sectors experienced the largest decreases in employed persons between July and August 2025, including human health and social work activities, mining and quarrying, and professional, scientific and technical activities.