The Department of Labor and Employment on Tuesday said it will intensify efforts to connect more Filipinos with available jobs after the unemployment rate rose to 6 percent in July.

Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino said the department would strengthen employment facilitation and job-matching programs following the latest Labor Force Survey, which showed 3.14 million unemployed Filipinos in July.

The figure was higher than the 5.3 percent unemployment rate in July 2025, when 2.59 million people were unemployed.

The employment rate stood at 94 percent, with 49.21 million Filipinos employed.

“We need to closely monitor where employment opportunities are growing and where gaps remain so that our employment programs and services can respond to the needs of workers and jobseekers,” Tolentino said.

“The goal is not only to bring the unemployment rate down, but to put more Filipinos in decent, more productive work,” he added.

Tolentino said DOLE regional offices have been instructed to work closely with local government units and Public Employment Service Offices to intensify employment facilitation and youth employability programs.

The department will also begin holding nationwide monthly Trabaho Agad job fairs this September.

DOLE said it will continue youth employment programs such as the Government Internship Program and Special Program for Employment of Students.

Tolentino also said the department would expand the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers program, which provides temporary work to individuals and communities affected by floods and monsoon rains.

DOLE also plans to deepen coordination with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and Department of Migrant Workers to support returning overseas Filipino workers who want to establish livelihoods in the Philippines.

The department will likewise continue its Integrated Livelihood Program and Adjustment Measures Program to support displaced workers, affected communities and micro, small and medium enterprises facing economic pressures.