MANILA — The number of unemployed Filipinos dropped to 2.66 million in February 2026, lower than the 2.96 million recorded in January but higher than the 1.94 million posted in the same month last year, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.

This translated to an unemployment rate of 5.1% in February, easing from 5.8% in January.

The employment rate also improved to 94.9% from 94.2% in the previous month, with a total of 49.43 million Filipinos reported as employed.

Meanwhile, the underemployment rate stood at 11.8%, equivalent to 5.84 million workers seeking additional work hours or extra jobs.

On average, Filipino workers rendered 40.9 hours of work per week during the month.

The services sector continued to account for the largest share of employment at 63.5%, followed by agriculture at 18.8% and industry at 17.7%.

By subsector, wholesale and retail trade, including repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, accounted for the biggest share at 20.0%, followed by agriculture and forestry at 16.0%, and construction at 9.2%.

The PSA reported that the largest annual increases in employment were recorded in administrative and support service activities, which added 572,000 workers, followed by transportation and storage with 486,000, accommodation and food service activities with 357,000, financial and insurance activities with 224,000, and human health and social work activities with 214,000.

On the other hand, the biggest annual declines were seen in wholesale and retail trade, including repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, which shed 725,000 workers, followed by agriculture and forestry with 523,000, construction with 484,000, public administration and defense with 126,000, and arts, entertainment and recreation with 86,000.

The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development said the latest figures indicate that the country’s labor market remains resilient despite global uncertainties.

“Recent developments highlight the urgency to strengthen the resilience of our labor market. We must ensure that our policies and programs respond effectively to rapidly changing global conditions, especially for affected and displaced Filipino workers here and abroad,” said Arsenio Balisacan.