Photo credit: DOLE

The country’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.4 percent in December 2025, the same as in November—but the number of jobless Filipinos climbed to 2.26 million, underscoring lingering challenges in the labor market. This was higher than both November’s 2.25 million and December 2024’s 1.63 million, when unemployment was significantly lower.

Compared with a year earlier, unemployment worsened, rising from 3.1 percent in December 2024 to 4.4 percent in December 2025, even as more Filipinos actively looked for work. The labor force participation rate stood at 64.4 percent, translating to 51.69 million Filipinos in the labor force.

Employment remained unchanged at 95.6 percent, with 49.43 million Filipinos employed. While this was slightly higher than November’s figure, it was still below the 50.19 million employed in December last year, pointing to fewer jobs available compared to a year ago.

The services sector continued to employ the majority of workers at 62.4 percent, followed by agriculture (20.7%) and industry (16.9%). However, key sectors such as construction, manufacturing, and transportation recorded the biggest job losses year-on-year, contributing to the higher number of unemployed Filipinos.

On the brighter side, underemployment dropped to 8.0 percent, meaning fewer workers were seeking extra hours or additional jobs. Still, the December data showed that while unemployment stopped rising month-on-month, more Filipinos remained jobless compared to last year, keeping pressure on job creation efforts.