Unemployment in the Philippines fell to 3.8 percent in February 2025 from 4.3 percent in January, but rose from 3.5 percent in February 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported today, Tuesday.
The rates show that the number of jobless individuals in the country dropped to 1.94 million in February this year from 2.16 million in the preceding month, but climbed from 1.8 million jobless Filipinos in the comparative year-earlier period.
National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said in a press conference the number of individuals that joined the labor force in February 2025 increased by about 345,000 from the number a year earlier.
“Not everyone gets absorbed into the labor market. Out of the 345,000, we have 204,000 who are employed, but 141,000 are unemployed — and that’s what caused the rise (year-on-year) in our unemployment rate. More people participated, but not all were absorbed by our labor market,” Mapa said.
The country’s overall employment rate for February stood at 96.2 percent, with 49.15 million Filipinos having jobs during the period, the PSA said.
