The country’s unemployment rate rose to 4.8 percent in May 2026 as the number of Filipinos without jobs reached 2.50 million, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
The May figure was slightly higher than the 4.7-percent unemployment rate recorded in April 2026 and above the 3.9 percent posted in May 2025.
In terms of headcount, unemployed Filipinos increased from 2.41 million in April and 2.03 million in the same month last year.
Despite the higher jobless rate, the number of employed Filipinos improved on a monthly basis. PSA data showed that employed persons rose to 49.63 million in May from 48.89 million in April. However, the figure remained lower than the 50.29 million employed Filipinos recorded in May 2025.
The employment rate stood at 95.2 percent in May, slightly down from 95.3 percent in April and lower than the 96.1 percent registered a year earlier.
The services sector continued to account for the largest share of employment at 61.8 percent, followed by agriculture at 19.9 percent and industry at 18.3 percent.
The labor force participation rate also increased to 63.8 percent in May from 62.7 percent in April, though it remained below the 65.8 percent recorded in May 2025.
This translated to 52.13 million Filipinos aged 15 and above who were either employed or actively looking for work. The figure was higher than the 51.30 million recorded in April but slightly lower than the 52.32 million posted in May last year.
Meanwhile, job quality showed some improvement as the underemployment rate eased to 12.2 percent in May from 15.2 percent in April and 13.1 percent in May 2025.
The PSA said around 6.04 million employed Filipinos were underemployed, meaning they wanted additional work hours, another job, or a new job with longer working hours.
Of the total underemployed workers, 53.7 percent worked fewer than 40 hours a week or had no work during the reference period, while 46.3 percent were already working at least 40 hours but still wanted more work or additional income.