The number of jobless Filipinos declined to 2.66 million in February 2026, down from 2.96 million the previous month, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). This brought the unemployment rate to 5.1%, improving from January's 5.8%.
Despite the monthly progress, the figure remains significantly higher than the 1.94 million unemployed recorded in February 2025, when the jobless rate stood at only 3.8%.
Out of the 994,000 Filipinos added to the labor force in February, only 271,000 were absorbed into the labor market, while 724,000 remained jobless. This highlights a growing gap between labor supply and the economy's capacity to generate enough jobs.
The labor force participation rate reached 63.8%, translating to 52.09 million Filipinos aged 15 and above who were either working or actively looking for work. The Services sector dominated employment, accounting for 63.5% of all employed persons, followed by Agriculture at 18.8% and Industry at 17.7%.
Underemployment stood at 11.8%, representing 5.84 million workers who wanted additional work hours or another job, worsening compared to the 10.1% posted in February 2025, pointing to deeper vulnerabilities beneath the headline numbers.
PSA National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa warned that the average unemployed for the first two months of 2026 climbed to 2.8 million, up from 2.05 million in the same period last year, with ongoing Middle East tensions adding further risks.
DEPDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan stressed the need to strengthen labor market resilience amid rapidly changing global conditions.
