BAGUIO CITY — The Cordillera region posted a labor force participation rate of 63.8 percent in 2025, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority Cordillera.

The figure means that around 832,000 individuals aged 15 and older were either employed or actively seeking work. The rate was 1.2 percentage points lower than the 65.0 percent recorded the previous year and slightly below the national average of 64.1 percent.

Among provinces in the region, Mountain Province recorded the highest labor force participation rate at 73.8 percent. It was followed by Benguet at 66.9 percent, Ifugao at 65.7 percent, Kalinga at 64.0 percent, and Apayao at 63.1 percent. Abra and Baguio City posted the lowest participation rates at 61.6 percent and 55.2 percent, respectively.

Of the 832,000 individuals in the regional labor force, 97.3 percent, or about 810,000 people, were employed. The employment rate was 1.5 percentage points higher than the national average of 95.8 percent, making the Cordillera region the top-performing region in employment nationwide, slightly ahead of the Davao region at 97.1 percent.

In contrast, CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) recorded the country’s lowest regional employment rate at 94.2 percent.

Nationwide, Ilocos Norte led all provinces and highly urbanized cities with an employment rate of 99.2 percent, followed by Nueva Ecija at 99.1 percent and Northern Samar at 99.0 percent. Basilan posted the lowest employment rate at 90.9 percent.

Within the Cordillera region, Mountain Province again topped the list with a 98.5 percent employment rate, followed by Ifugao and Kalinga at 97.8 percent each, and Benguet at 97.7 percent. Apayao at 95.9 percent and Baguio City at 95.8 percent fell below the regional average.

The region’s unemployment rate stood at 2.7 percent, lower than the national average of 4.2 percent. Baguio City posted the highest unemployment rate in the region at 4.2 percent, followed by Apayao at 4.1 percent and Abra at 3.0 percent. Mountain Province recorded the lowest unemployment rate at 1.5 percent.

Underemployment in the region reached 11.7 percent, affecting an estimated 95,000 of the 810,000 employed individuals. Underemployed workers are those seeking additional working hours, a second job, or another position with longer hours.

Kalinga registered the highest underemployment rate at 24.5 percent, followed by Apayao at 24.2 percent. Meanwhile, Abra at 7.6 percent, Baguio City at 6.9 percent, and Benguet at 5.6 percent remained below the regional average.