1.94 million Filipinos jobless in February 2025

April 8, 2025 | 11:02am

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday, April 8, that there were 1.94 million jobless Filipinos in February 2025, translating to an unemployment rate of 3.8%.

This is a higher, year-on-year unemployment rate. In February 2024, the unemployment rate was 3.5%. However, the unemployment rate in February 2025 is still a decrease compared to January 2025’s rate, which was 4.3%

The PSA stated that the country’s employment rate for February 2025 is 96.2%, which translates to 49.15 million employed people. This is slightly lower compared to the same period in 2024, which was at 96.5%. The employment rate for January 2025 was 95.7%.

Meanwhile, the country’s underemployment rate decreased, dropping from 13.3% in January 2025 to 10.1% in February 2025.

This means that 4.96 million people out of the country’s 49.15 million-strong workforce expressed the need for additional work hours or a second job.

The services sector is the top source of employment for Filipinos in terms of broad industry groups, accounting for 61.6% of the country’s workforce. The agriculture sector employed 20.1%, while the industry sector employed 18.3%.

In terms of subsectors, the PSA listed the following as having the largest annual increases:

1. Accommodation and food service activities: Up by 377,000 workers 
2. Fishing and aquaculture: Up by 365,000 workers 
3. Public administration and defense; compulsory social security: Up by 330,000 workers 
4. Construction: Up by 258,000 workers 
5. Other service activities: Up by 232,000 workers 

In terms of month-on-month increases, wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles saw the highest rise, with 620,000 additional workers. It was followed by construction (434,000 workers), manufacturing (225,000 workers), public administration and defense; compulsory social security (191,000 workers), and fishing and aquaculture (147,000 workers).

Meanwhile, the following subsectors saw the largest decreases in the number of workers:

1. Agriculture and forestry: Down by 949,000 workers 
2. Administrative and support service activities: Down by 201,000 workers 
3. Transportation and storage: Down by 158,000 workers 
4. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles: Down by 77,000 workers 
5. Professional, scientific and technical activities: Down by 68,000 workers 

For month-on-month decreases, agriculture and forestry posted the highest decline, with 520,000 fewer workers. This was followed by administrative and support service activities (308,000 workers), transportation and storage (176,000 workers), professional, scientific, and technical activities (90,000 workers), and information and communication (89,000 workers).