The Philippines’ unemployment rate increased to 5.0 percent in October 2025 from 3.9 percent in the same month last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
This translates to 2.54 million unemployed individuals, higher than the 1.97 million recorded in October 2024. However, the October 2025 rate was lower than the 5.3 percent jobless rate reported in July 2025.
Despite the rise in the overall unemployment rate, the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev) said the labor market remains stable, with improved job quality indicators.
Underemployment, which measures employed individuals seeking additional work or hours, fell to 12.0 percent in October 2025 from 12.6 percent a year earlier. This improvement was largely due to a decrease in visibly underemployed individuals, particularly in “other service activities” and “agriculture and forestry,” according to DEPDev.
Key indicators of employment quality showed notable gains, including an increase in wage and salary workers in private establishments, a rise in middle- and high-skilled workers and more full-time employment.
The employment rate stood at 95.0 percent as the number of working individuals increased to 48.62 million, up by 463,000 from last year. The labor force participation rate also increased to 63.6 percent, indicating that a million additional individuals joined the workforce.
“October’s labor market reflects continued progress in improving the quality of work available to Filipinos,” said DEPDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
Balisacan said the government plans to leverage innovation and digital technologies to enhance employment services, integrate labor market information for better industry-skills matching and expand skills training programs for reskilling and upskilling Filipino workers.
The country’s chief economist reiterated that sustaining quality employment gains hinges on the comprehensive implementation of the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Plan 2025-2034 and the PDP 2023-2028.
The government also intends to use landmark policies, such as the Tatak Pinoy Act which institutionalized the Tatak Pinoy Strategy, to attract investments and create jobs by identifying priority sectors with strong potential for value-added production export growth and employment generation, he said.
