Unemployment in the Philippines hit a six-month high in January
Data from the Philippine National Bureau of Statistics showed on the 6th that the country's unemployment rate in January was 4.3%, up 1.2 percentage points from December 2024 and a six-month high.
The data show that the Philippine unemployment rate has shown a general downward trend since the second half of 2024, falling to 3.1% in December 2024, the lowest level in nearly six months. However, unemployment rebounded sharply in January, with the number of unemployed rising by 530,000 month-on-month to 2.16 million. The National Bureau of Statistics said this was mainly due to seasonal adjustments in economic activity. Every year, there is a large number of temporary jobs in the Philippines during the Christmas season, and after the holiday demand drops, this part of the workforce chooses to return to school or family.
Data show that the service industry is the largest employment industry in the Philippines, the number of employment reached 29.87 million, accounting for 61.6% of the total employment; This was followed by agriculture and industry with 21.1% and 17.2%, respectively.
At the same time, underemployment has worsened in the Philippines. The underemployment rate rose to 13.3 percent in January, up 2.4 percentage points from December 2024. That means the number of employed people in the country seeking more hours or a better job opportunity rose to 6.47 million in January.