The Central Visayas unemployment rate rose to 3.8% in 2025 from 3.1% in 2024, leaving 115,000 individuals jobless, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
The Philippine Statistics Authority identified a structural skills mismatch and recent natural disasters as the primary drivers behind the region's increased joblessness.
Regional data showed youth employment for ages 15 to 24 dropped to 88.3%, while Lapu-Lapu City recorded the highest localized unemployment rate at 5.3%.
CENTRAL Visayas’ unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent in 2025 from 3.1 percent in 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 7 said.
The increase raised the number of unemployed persons in the region to about 115,000 from 94,000 a year earlier. The PSA 7 released the figures on May 21, 2026, as part of its Annual Labor Force Survey.
According to the PSA 7, Lapu-Lapu City recorded the highest unemployment rate among the region’s provinces and highly urbanized cities at 5.3 percent, while Mandaue City posted the lowest at 2.8 percent.
Bohol and Cebu, excluding highly urbanized cities, each recorded an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent, which remains below the regional average.
Employment decline
The number of employed persons in Central Visayas declined to about 2.93 million in 2025 from 2.95 million in 2024, causing the region’s overall employment rate to slip to 96.2 percent from 96.9 percent.
Among the highly urbanized cities, Mandaue City posted the highest employment rate at 97.2 percent, whereas Lapu-Lapu City recorded the lowest at 94.7 percent.
Sectoral performance
The services sector remained the region’s biggest source of employment, accounting for 64.9 percent of the total employed population, followed by industry at 19.5 percent and agriculture at 15.7 percent.
By subsector, wholesale and retail trade, alongside the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, accounted for the largest share of jobs at 20.3 percent, followed by agriculture and forestry at 12.7 percent and construction at 9.7 percent.
Labor participation
The regional underemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent in 2025 from seven percent in 2024, indicating a slight improvement in job quality despite the overall rise in unemployment. Underemployed individuals are those who are employed but underutilized in the economy. This occurs when someone works fewer hours than they desire (involuntary part-time work) or holds a job that does not match their education, training, or skill level.
However, the labor force participation rate declined to 63.9 percent from 64.7 percent, with Lapu-Lapu City posting the highest participation at 67.3 percent and Cebu City recording the lowest at 60.1 percent.
The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the working-age population that is either employed or actively looking for work. It measures the overall size of an economy’s active workforce.
The job market also proved more challenging for youth aged 15 to 24, as their employment rate fell to 88.3 percent in 2025 from 90.4 percent in 2024, while their labor force participation rate dropped to 30.9 percent from 31.8 percent, according to the PSA 7. (DPC)