Philippines Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate in the Philippines dropped to 3.7% in September 2024 from 4.5% in the same month last year. The number of unemployed persons declined to 1.89 million from 2.26 million in September 2023, while employment increased to 49.87 million from 47.67 million in the previous year. Across broad industry groups, the services sector remained the largest employer, representing 62.8% of the total workforce. The agriculture sector accounted for 19.9%, while the industry sector made up 17.4% of total employment. By sub-sectors, the largest job gains were seen in administrative & support service activities (+735 thousand), other service activities (+559 thousand), wholesale & retail trade; repair of motor vehicles & motorcycles (+486 thousand), public administration & defense; compulsory social security (+333 thousand), and manufacturing (+200 thousand). Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate rose to 65.7% in September from 64.1% in the corresponding month a year ago.