The Philippine Statistics Authority-Northern Mindanao (PSA-10) has reported that the unemployment rate in the region dropped in 2025 but underemployment increased, particularly among workers in the agriculture sector.

Based on the latest labor force survey, the number of unemployed individuals went down to 87,000 in 2025 from 91,000 in 2024.

The employment rate increased slightly to 96.3 percent in 2025 from 96.2 percent in 2024, as company requirements aligned more closely with applicant qualifications.

However, PSA noted that underemployment – workers seeking additional part-time jobs despite having regular employment – rose with agriculture workers leading the trend.

PSA-10 hopes that the region’s employment rate will continue to improve, especially that the country is facing a crisis.

“We have agriculture and forestry second we have wholesale and retail including the repair of motor vehicles then other services fishing and aquaculture and construction,” PSA-10 Director, Janeth Aves, said.

“Agriculture is actually a seasonal employment so I believe the workers in agriculture sector will opt to be employed in more permanent situation,” Department of Labor and Employment-Northern Mindanao (DOLE-10) Technical Support Director, Atheneus Vasallo, added.