Jobless Filipinos rose to 2.54M in October 2025 —PSA

The number of Filipinos without jobs or livelihoods increased to over two million in October 2025, according to the results of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s latest Labor Force Survey.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa reported that unemployed persons, ages 15 and above, rose to 2.54 million from 1.96 million in September 2025.

This was also higher than the 1.97 million unemployed individuals in October 2024.

As a percentage of 51.16 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 5%, up from 3.8% in September 2025.

This means 50 in 1,000 individuals do not have jobs or livelihoods during the period.

The number of employed persons, however, increased year-on-year to 48.62 million from 48.16 million in the same month last year.

Month-on-month, the number of employed declined from 49.6 million in September 2025.

As a percentage of labor force participants, the employment rate stood at 95%, lower than the 96.1% rate in October 2024 and 96.2% in September 2025.

Mapa said the higher number of unemployed was due to the increase in labor force participants, “but unfortunately, not everyone was absorbed.”

“We are seeing this [trend] whenever there is a substantial increase in labor force participation,” the PSA chief said.

Labor force participants grew to 51.16 million from 50.12 million in October 2024, indicating an over one million increase in labor market participation.

Underemployment rate —defined as employed persons who desire additional jobs or more hours of work—dropped to 12% from 12.6% year-on-year.

In a separate statement, Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said, “October’s labor market reflects continued progress in improving the quality of work available to Filipinos,” citing indicators of improved employment quality such as the increases in wage and salary workers in private establishments (+863,000), middle- and high-skilled workers (+432,000), and full-time employment (+564,000).  

Balisacan said that despite the increase in unemployment during the period, the full-year unemployment rate of 4.7% remains better than the Philippine Development Plan’s (PDP) target for the year and lower than regional peers like China and India. —AOL/ VAL,  GMA Integrated News