PH jobless rate dropped to 5.3% in August–PSA
The country’s jobless rate dropped from a four-year high in August as fresh graduates started to find jobs, bringing some relief to a labor market that had come under mounting pressure in recent months.
Unemployment in the country eased to 5.3 percent in August from the four-year high of 6 percent in July, ending three straight months of increases.
This put the number of jobless Filipinos at 2.77 million, down from 3.14 million in the previous month.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the month-on-month decline was partly due to fewer new entrants to the labor force, with August seeing 897,000 compared with July’s 1.5 million.
Of the August figure, 470,000 were absorbed into employment, while 427,000 remained unemployed.
Still, the jobless rate remained elevated and among the highest recorded this year.
It was also much higher than the 3.9-percent recorded in the same month last year.
Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate increased to 64 percent from 63.6 percent, representing 52.56 million Filipinos in the labor force, up from 52.36 million.
The employment rate also rose to 94.7 percent during the month from 94 percent, bringing the number of employed Filipinos to 49.79 million from 49.21 million.
“The labor market improved in August from the previous month, as the entry of fresh graduates into the labor force appears to have been partly absorbed,” economists at Chinabank Research said in a commentary.
“However, labor market conditions remain considerably weaker than a year ago, with both unemployment and underemployment still elevated,” they added.
Underemployment, which covers workers seeking additional jobs or longer working hours to increase their income, eased to a six-month low of 11.9 percent from 12.9 percent.
This was equivalent to 5.9 million underemployed Filipinos, down from 6.33 million in July.
Chinabank noted that underemployment could pick up again as rising commodity prices might push workers to seek additional sources of income.
State statisticians, meanwhile, also pointed to the decline in average hours worked, which fell to 39.2 hours in August.
This was the first time the average dipped below the 40-hour mark since May 2025, as back-to-back weather disruptions weighed on business operations.
The average unemployment rate since the start of the year now stands at 5.6 percent, still within the revised 5.3-percent to 5.8-percent projection of the Marcos administration.
For Chinabank, this could be an early indication that economic growth will remain subdued in the third quarter as the rate stays elevated.
For Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., the labor market could see some relief in the fourth quarter.
“Going forward, catch-up spending by the national government, especially on infrastructure, could help pump-prime the economy, create more jobs and other business opportunities,” he said.
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