Philippines Jobless Rate Jumps to 4-Year High

The unemployment rate in the Philippines climbed to 6% in July 2026 from 4.9% in June and higher than the 5.3% recorded in July 2025. It marked the highest level since June 2022, attributed to an increase in the number of people entering the labor force, which reached 52.36 million. The number of unemployed individuals rose to 3.14 million from 2.59 million in June. Meanwhile, the underemployment rate, a key indicator of job quality, increased to a three-month high of 12.9% from 12.1% in the previous month, with 6.33 million workers seeking additional hours or another job. The employment rate fell to 94% from 95.1%, as the number of employed persons declined to 49.21 million from 50.66 million. The services sector remained the country's largest employer, representing 62.8% of total employment, followed by agriculture at 19.7% and industry at 17.5%. Wage and salary workers made up 66.1% of total employment, with the majority working in private establishments (78.3%).

The unemployment rate in the Philippines edged up to 4.9% in June 2026 from 4.8% in May and was higher than the 3.7% recorded in the same month a year earlier. The number of unemployed individuals rose to 2.59 million, up from 2.50 million in the previous month and 1.95 million in June 2025. The underemployment rate, a key indicator of job quality, ticked down to 12.1% from 12.2% in May, meaning that 6.11 million workers were seeking additional hours of work or another job. Meanwhile, the employment rate slipped to 95.1% from 95.2%, even as the total number of employed persons increased to 50.66 million from 49.63 million in the previous month. The services sector remained the country's largest employer, accounting for 62.7% of total employment, followed by agriculture (20.0%) and industry (17.3%). Wage and salary workers made up 64.1% of the employed population, with the majority (77.6%) working in private establishments. Average weekly working hours declined to 40.6 from 41.1.

The unemployment rate in the Philippines rose slightly to 4.8% in May 2026 from April's four-month low of 4.7%. The figure was higher than the 3.9% recorded in the same month last year, attributed to job losses in the agriculture sector following the start of the El Niño phenomenon. The number of unemployed persons increased to 2.50 million from 2.41 million in the previous month. The employment rate edged down to 95.2% from 95.3%, despite total employment rising to 49.63 million from 48.89 million in April. The services sector remained the largest employer, accounting for 61.8% of total employment, followed by agriculture (19.9%) and industry (18.3%). Meanwhile, the underemployment rate fell to 12.2% from 15.2% in April, while average weekly working hours increased to 41.1 from 40.2. Wage and salary workers comprised 64.3% of the workforce, most of whom were employed in private establishments, representing 79.4% of the group.