September 10, 2025
MANILA – Unemployment in the Philippines climbed sharply in July, with 2.59 million people out of work compared with 1.95 million the month before, according to government data released on Wednesday.
The jobless rate rose to 5.3 percent from 3.7 percent in June, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.
READ: Philippine jobless rate down to 3.7% in June
The latest unemployment rate was the highest since June 2022’s 6.03 percent, when the economy was still lingering from the pandemic’s onslaught.
Measures of job quality also deteriorated. Some 6.8 million employed Filipinos said they were looking for additional work or longer hours to boost their income, up from 5.76 million in June. That pushed the underemployment rate to 14.8 percent, from 11.4 percent previously. /dda