The unemployment rate in the Philippines went down to 3.9% in May 2025, compared to 4.1% in April 2025 and May 2024, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
National Statistician Usec. Claire Dennis Mapa said there were about 2.03 million unemployed Filipinos in May 2025 — fewer than the 2.11 million in May 2024 and 2.06 million in April 2025.
More Filipinos now have jobs
The employment rate in May 2025 rose to 96.1%, up from 95.9% in the previous month and year.
A total of 50.29 million Filipinos were employed in May 2025, an increase from 48.87 million in May 2024 and 48.67 million in April 2025.
Which sectors hired the most?
Most of the jobs were in the services sector (61.8%), followed by agriculture (21.1%) and industry (17.1%).
The top sub-sectors in terms of number of employed persons were:
- Retail trade and vehicle repair – 19.8%
- Agriculture and forestry – 18.8%
- Construction – 9.5%
- Sectors with the Biggest Job Gains (Year-on-Year)
- Retail trade and repair: +489,000 jobs
- Agriculture and forestry: +469,000
- Admin and support services: +371,000
- Hotels and restaurants: +365,000
- Other services: +175,000
Sectors with the Biggest Job Losses (Year-on-Year)
- Manufacturing: -374,000 jobs
- Construction: -298,000
- Mining and quarrying: -82,000
- Public administration: -54,000
- Water and waste services: -50,000
- Sectors with the Biggest Job Gains (Month-on-Month)
- Agriculture and forestry: +819,000
- Hotels and restaurants: +779,000
- Other services: +263,000
- Manufacturing: +184,000
- Education: +150,000
Sectors with the Biggest Job Losses (Month-on-Month)
- Fishing and aquaculture: -236,000
- Admin and support services: -215,000
- Retail trade and repair: -190,000
- Health and social work: -56,000
- Construction: -26,000
- Types of Workers
Out of all employed persons:
- 62.8% were wage and salary workers
- 77.1% of them worked in private companies
- 15.0% worked in government
- 27.9% were self-employed
- 7.5% were unpaid family workers
- 1.8% were employers of their own businesses
Work hours and underemployment
On average, Filipinos worked 39.8 hours per week in May 2025, slightly less than the 40.6 hours in May 2024.
About 91,000 workers said they only worked for one hour in the week of the survey.
The underemployment rate or those looking for more work or longer hours — was at 13.1% in May 2025. That's higher than the 9.9% in May 2024 but lower than 14.6% in April 2025.
In total, 6.6 million employed Filipinos said they still wanted more work or longer working hours. Of these, 59.2% worked less than 40 hours a week (visibly underemployed) and 40.8% worked 40 hours or more (invisibly underemployed)
