The unemployment rate in the Philippines slightly picked up to 3.9 percent in March 2025 from 3.8 percent in February, but stayed at the same level a year ago, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Wednesday.
“In terms of magnitude, the total number of unemployed individuals in March 2025 was registered at 1.93 million. This was lower than the number of unemployed persons in March 2024 at 2.0 million. In February 2025, the number of unemployed individuals was registered at 1.94 million,” the PSA said.
The number of employed persons in March 2025 was recorded at 48.02 million, lower than in March 2024 and February 2025, both at 49.15 million. Labor force participation rate (LFPR) in March 2025 went down to 62.9 percent from 65.3 percent a year ago and 64.5 percent in February 2025.
The reported LFPR in March 2025 translates to 49.96 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and over who were in the labor force, or those who were either employed or unemployed.
Meanwhile, the underemployment rate in March 2025 rose to 13.4 percent from 11.0 percent in March 2024 and 10.1 percent in February 2025.
About 6.44 million of the 48.02 million employed individuals expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work in March 2025.
By broad industry group, services continued to be the top sector in terms of the number of employed persons with a share of 62.0 percent of the total employed persons in March 2025. The agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 20.1 percent and 17.9 percent of the total number of employed persons, respectively.