MANILA — The Philippines’ unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent in November 2025, from 3.2 percent in November 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported. Month-on-month, the rate was lower than the 5.0 percent recorded in October 2025.

The number of unemployed individuals in November 2025 reached 2.25 million, compared with 1.66 million in November 2024 and 2.54 million in October 2025.

The employment rate in November 2025 was estimated at 95.6 percent, slightly lower than the 96.8 percent recorded in November 2024 but higher than the 95.0 percent in October 2025. The total number of employed persons stood at 49.26 million, down from 49.54 million in November 2024 but up from 48.62 million in October 2025.

By sector, the Services sector employed the largest share at 62.1 percent, followed by Agriculture at 20.0 percent and Industry at 17.9 percent. The subsectors with the highest employment included Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles (20.5%), Agriculture and Forestry (17.7%), and Construction (9.8%).

The top five subsectors with annual increases in employment were Public Administration and Defense (185,000), Education (176,000), Administrative and Support Service Activities (99,000), Construction (86,000), and Information and Communication (82,000). Meanwhile, Accommodation and Food Service Activities (-309,000), Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles (-258,000), Other Service Activities (-250,000), Manufacturing (-150,000), and Fishing and Aquaculture (-56,000) posted the largest annual declines.

By class of worker, wage and salary workers made up 63.4 percent of the employed, followed by self-employed without any paid employee (27.8%), unpaid family workers (7.2%), and employers in own family-operated farms or businesses (1.6%). Among wage and salary workers, 77.8 percent were employed in private establishments, while 14.8 percent worked in government or government-controlled corporations.

The average number of hours worked per week in November 2025 was 40.4 hours, slightly lower than 41.1 hours a year earlier. About 33,000 employed persons worked exactly one hour, down from 51,000 in November 2024 and 49,000 in October 2025.

The underemployment rate fell to 10.4 percent in November 2025 from 10.8 percent a year ago and 12.0 percent in October 2025, with 5.11 million employed persons expressing the desire for additional or longer work hours. Of these, 68.3 percent worked less than 40 hours a week, while 31.7 percent worked 40 hours or more.

Among youth aged 15 to 24, the labor force participation rate stood at 88.3 percent, down from 90.6 percent in November 2024. Of the 5.62 million employed youth, 528,000 were underemployed, equivalent to a 9.4 percent underemployment rate.