Jobless Filipinos declined to 2.03M in August 2025 —PSA

The number of Filipinos without occupations declined in August 2025 amid a recovery in the labor market immediately following a series of major weather disturbances in the prior month, results of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s latest Labor Force Survey (LFS) showed.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa reported that unemployed persons, ages 15 and above, decreased to 2.03 million from 2.59 million in July 2025.

This was also lower than the 2.07 million jobless individuals in August 2024.

As a percentage of 52.13 million participants in the labor force who are actively looking for labor opportunities during the period, the number of jobless persons translated to an unemployment rate of 3.9%, down from 5.3% month-on-month.

This means 39 in 1,000 individuals do not have jobs or livelihoods during the period.

Labor force participation, meanwhile, grew from 48.64 million in July 2025 and 51.22 million in August 2024.

Consequently, employed persons rose to 50.10 million from 46.05 million month-on-month and from 49.15 million in the same month last year.

As a percentage of labor force participants, the employment rate stood at 96.1%, higher than the 94.7% seen in July 2025 and 96% in August 2024.

Job opportunities

Mapa said the recovery seen in the labor market was due to the reopening for job opportunities of several sectors which were heavily affected by the series of weather disturbances in July such as agriculture, retail, construction, and services.

The top five sectors which saw the highest number of increases in employed persons in August 2025 are the following:

• Agriculture and forestry - 1.35 million
• Wholesale and retail trade - 1.30 million
• Construction -  672,000
• Other service activities - 399,000
• Fishing and aquaculture - 346,000

In terms of share to total employment, the services sector accounted for 61.5% followed by agriculture with 20.4% and industry at 18.1%.

“These positive labor market indicators reflect our collective effort to sustain economic growth while ensuring that more Filipinos benefit from it. We are working to generate not just jobs, but quality jobs that will raise incomes, reduce underemployment, and improve the overall well-being of our people,” Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

“We aim to enhance resilience in sectors vulnerable to disruptions, such as retail trade and agriculture, by prioritizing improvements in logistics, infrastructure, digitalization, and workforce development, particularly among micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The government is also ramping up investments in climate-resilient infrastructure and proactive measures, alongside timely emergency employment programs to support workers affected by disruptions” Balisacan said.

Underemployed

Quality of employment likewise improved as the number of underemployed persons —those who express desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work— contracted to 5.38 million from 6.8 million in July.

Underemployment rate stood at 10.7%, down from 14.8% in July 2025 and 11.2% in August 2024.

To sustain gains from the continued decline in unemployment and underemployment, Balisacan highlighted the need to support programs such as the Government Internship Program, which equips the youth with essential skills for the workforce and fosters a culture of lifelong learning.

“Enhancing school-to-work transitions and strengthening youth employability will enable young Filipinos to acquire the skills needed to thrive in the workplace. The government continues to promote lifelong learning as a key strategy for creating quality jobs and sustaining inclusive growth. As industries evolve, we must ensure that our workers are equipped with the competencies required in new and emerging sectors—so that no Filipino is left behind in our country’s development journey,” the country’s chief economist said. — KG/RSJ, GMA Integrated News