The Philippines saw its unemployment rate climb to 4.9 percent in June 2026, up from 4.8 percent in May and 3.7 percent in June last year, even as overall employment numbers continued to expand, state statisticians reported.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), about 2.59 million Filipinos were out of work in June, compared to 2.50 million in May and 1.95 million in June 2025.
The employment rate dipped slightly to 95.1 percent. Despite the percentage drop, the total number of working Filipinos actually grew to 50.66 million in June, up from 49.63 million in May and 50.47 million in June 2025.
Both employment and unemployment figures rose at the same time because more people entered the job market. The country’s active labor force, Filipinos aged 15 and older who are either working or looking for work, grew to 53.25 million, lifting the labor force participation rate to 65.1 percent from 63.8 percent in May.
Service industries provided the vast majority of jobs, employing 62.7 percent of the workforce, followed by agriculture at 20 percent and industry at 17.3 percent. By specific sector, wholesale and retail trade (including motor vehicle repair) remained the nation’s top employer at 19.6 percent, followed by agriculture and forestry (17.7 percent) and construction (9.7 percent).
Meanwhile, underemployment, which measures employed workers seeking extra hours or additional jobs, stood at 12.1 percent (6.11 million workers). That is a slight drop from 12.2 percent in May, though higher than the 11.4 percent recorded in June 2025. Over half (51.9 percent) of these underemployed individuals worked fewer than 40 hours a week.