THE country’s unemployment rate stayed at 4.4 percent in December 2025, the same as in November but higher than a year earlier, as fewer Filipinos joined the labor force, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026.
This rate meant about 2.26 million Filipinos were unemployed in December. This was slightly higher than the 2.25 million in November and up from 1.63 million in December 2024.
The labor force participation rate fell to 64.4 percent in December from 65.1 percent a year earlier. It was, however, a bit higher than the 64 percent recorded in November. This meant around 51.69 million Filipinos aged 15 and older were either working or looking for work, down from 51.81 million a year earlier.
The employment rate remained unchanged at 95.6 percent in December. This was lower than the 96.9 percent posted in December 2024. Total employment reached 49.43 million, higher than the 49.26 million in November but lower than the 50.19 million recorded a year ago.
The services sector continued to employ the most workers, making up 62.4 percent of total employment. Agriculture followed with 20.7 percent, while industry accounted for 16.9 percent.
Wholesale and retail trade had the biggest share among sub-sectors at 20.5 percent. Agriculture and forestry came next at 18.8 percent, followed by construction at 9.7 percent.
Compared with a year earlier, the biggest job gains were seen in administrative and support service activities, accommodation and food service activities and education. Job losses were recorded in construction, transportation and storage, manufacturing and agriculture and forestry.
Wage and salary workers made up 64.2 percent of total employment, mostly in private establishments. Average weekly hours worked rose to 41.2 hours, while underemployment eased to 8 percent, or about 3.93 million workers.
Among Filipinos aged 15 to 24, labor force participation dropped to 31.1 percent. The youth employment rate also fell to 87.8 percent. Of the 5.49 million employed youth, around 448,000 were underemployed. / KOC