Number of jobless Pinoys rises to 2.54 M in October

The country’s unemployment rate climbed to a three-month high of five percent in October, representing about 2.54 million jobless Filipinos, up from 3.8 percent in the previous month and 3.9 percent a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday, Dec. 10.

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This translated to a lower employment rate of 95 percent, or 48.62 million employed Filipinos, down from 96.2 percent in September and 96.1 percent in the same month last year.

October’s jobless rate was the highest since July’s 5.3 percent, when the number of unemployed reached a higher 2.59 million.

Compared to a year ago, the number of jobless persons at the start of the fourth quarter was higher than the 1.97 million in October 2024.

PSA data also showed that the underemployment rate rose to 12 percent, or about 5.81 million Filipinos, up from 11.1 percent in the previous month but slightly lower than last year’s 12.6 percent.