2.77M Filipinos jobless as unemployment falls to 5.3%

About 2.77 million Filipinos were unemployed in August, down from 3.14 million in July as the country’s unemployment rate eased to 5.3 percent from 6 percent, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Usec. Claire Dennis Mapa said the number of new labor market entrants declined sharply from the previous month, partly reflecting the seasonal influx of graduates.

“The new entrants in July reached 1.5 million due to graduation, so there were really many. Now, it declined somewhat to 897,000. Of this 897,000, the labor market absorbed 470,000 as employed,” Mapa said.

Despite the monthly improvement, the August unemployment rate remained higher than the 3.9 percent recorded a year earlier, when the number of jobless Filipinos stood at about 2.03 million.

The employment rate rose to 94.7 percent in August from 94 percent in July, although it remained below the 96.1 percent recorded in August 2025. The number of employed Filipinos reached 49.79 million, up from 49.21 million in July but lower than the 50.10 million recorded a year earlier.

The labor force participation rate also increased month-on-month to 64 percent from 63.6 percent in July, representing 52.56 million Filipinos aged 15 and above. The rate was lower than the 65.1 percent recorded a year earlier.

Services remained the largest source of jobs, accounting for 61.7 percent of total employment, followed by agriculture at 20.9 percent and industry at 17.3 percent.

Agriculture and forestry posted the largest annual increase in employment at 532,000 workers, followed by education with 298,000 and accommodation and food services with 195,000.

Manufacturing recorded the largest annual decline, with 350,000 fewer workers, followed by fishing and aquaculture with a 335,000 drop.

Meanwhile, average weekly hours worked fell to 39.2 hours in August from 40.6 hours in July and 41 hours a year earlier.

Mapa attributed the decline partly to weather conditions during the month.

“The average hours worked per week were low, and the main reason was really bad weather. We know that in August, there were too many days with heavy rain,” Mapa said.

Underemployment also eased to 11.9 percent in August from 12.9 percent in July, although it remained above the 10.7 percent recorded a year earlier. The PSA estimated that 5.90 million employed Filipinos wanted additional work, longer hours or another job.