MANILA, Philippines — The country’s unemployment rate eased to 3.9 percent in May 2025, down from 4.1 percent recorded in both May 2024 and April 2025, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

This translates to 2.03 million jobless individuals in May 2025, a decline from 2.11 million in the same period last year and 2.06 million the previous month.

The labor force participation rate (LFPR) also climbed to 65.8 percent, the highest since April 2005. This corresponds to 52.32 million Filipinos aged 15 and above either employed or actively seeking work. By comparison, the LFPR stood at 64.8 percent in May 2024 and 63.7 percent in April 2025.

Employment figures improved alongside the decline in unemployment. The total number of employed persons reached 50.29 million in May 2025, rising from 48.87 million a year ago and 48.67 million in the previous month. This pushed the employment rate to 96.1 percent, up from 95.9 percent in both comparison periods.

The services sector remained the top employment source, accounting for 61.8 percent of total employment. It was followed by agriculture (21.1%) and industry (17.1%). By subsector, wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles (19.8%), agriculture and forestry (18.8%), and construction (9.5%) employed the most people.

In terms of absolute year-on-year growth, wholesale and retail trade led with an increase of 489,000 jobs, followed by agriculture and forestry (469,000), administrative and support services (371,000), accommodation and food service activities (365,000), and other services (175,000).

Despite these gains, some subsectors posted job losses year-on-year, led by manufacturing (-374,000), construction (-298,000), and mining and quarrying (-82,000).

Wage and salary workers made up the majority of employed persons in May 2025, accounting for 62.8 percent of total employment. Among them, 77.1 percent worked in private establishments and 15 percent in government or government-controlled corporations.

However, average weekly working hours slightly dipped to 39.8 hours from 40.6 hours in May 2024 and 39.9 hours in April 2025.

The underemployment rate — which measures the proportion of employed persons seeking additional work hours or jobs — rose to 13.1 percent in May 2025 from 9.9 percent a year ago. This, however, marks an improvement from the 14.6 percent underemployment recorded in April 2025. In total, 6.6 million employed Filipinos were considered underemployed during the period.

Among the underemployed, 59.2 percent worked fewer than 40 hours per week, while 40.8 percent clocked 40 hours or more.

Meanwhile, youth participation in the labor force also showed improvement. The LFPR among those aged 15 to 24 increased to 33.6 percent in May 2025 from 32.2 percent a year ago. Youth employment rose to 91.5 percent, while youth underemployment dropped month-on-month to 11.5 percent from 13.4 percent in April 2025, though still higher than the 10.2 percent rate posted in May 2024.