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This 95.6% represents 49.26mn employed persons in November 2025, a slight decrease from the 49.54mn recorded in November 2024.
The Philippines Statistics Authority's Labour Force Survey for November 2025 showed the employment rate in November 2025 at estimated 95.6% – lower than that of the preceding year (November 2024: 96.8%).
In terms of number of persons, the number of employed persons were as follows:
- November 2025: 49.26mn persons
- November 2024: 49.54mn persons
- October 2025: 48.62mn persons
Employment rate by sector and sub-sector
In November 2025, the sector that saw the highest employment rate was the services sector, with a share of 62.1% of the total number of employes persons.
This was followed by the following sectors:
- Agriculture, with 20%, and
- Industry, with 17.9%.
Sub-sector performance
By sub-sector, the top three with the highest employment rate were:
- Wholesale and retail trade; Repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (20.5%),
- Agriculture and forestry (17.7%), and
- Construction (9.8%).
In terms of the sub-sectors with the highest annual increase in the number of employed persons in November 2025, the ranking is as follows:
- Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (185,000),
- Education (176,000),
- Administrative and support service activities (99,000),
- Construction (86,000), and
- Information and communication (82,000).
On the flipside, the lowest annual increase in the number of employed persons in November 2025 is as follows:
- Accommodation and food service activities (-309,000),
- Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (-258,000),
- Other service activities (-250,000),
- Manufacturing (-150,000), and
- Fishing and aquaculture (-56,000).
Top five sub-sectors with the largest increase in employed persons [Oct 2025 to Nov 2025]
In terms of the number of employed persons between October 2025 to November 2025, the top five sub-sectors with the largest increase were the following:
- Other service activities (621,000)
- Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (356,000)
- Education (173,000)
- Construction (143,000)
- Accommodation and food service activities (90,000)
Top five sub-sectors with the largest drop in employed persons [Oct 2025 to Nov 2025]
On the other hand, the top five sub-sectors with the largest drop in the number of employed persons from between October 2025 – November 2025 were:
- Agriculture and forestry (-517,000)
- Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (-121,000)
- Fishing and aquaculture (-78,000)
- Financial and insurance activities (-73,000)
- Manufacturing (-64,000)
Class of worker
Class of worker, wage and salary workers accounted for more than half of the employed persons (63.4%) in November 2025. This was followed by self-employed without any paid employee (27.8%), unpaid family workers (7.2%), and employers in own family-operated farm or business (1.6%).
Private establishments continued to account for the largest proportion of wage and salary workers, making up 77.8% of the total, or 49.4% of overall employment. This was followed by government and government-controlled corporations, which comprised 14.8% of wage and salary workers, equivalent to 9.4% of total employed persons during the period.
Number of hours worked
Employed persons worked an average of 40.4 hours per week in November 2025, down from 41.1 hours in November 2024.
An estimated 33,000 employed persons, representing 0.07% of total employment, worked exactly one hour during November 2025. This figure was lower than the 51,000 (0.10%) recorded in November 2024, as well as the 49,000 (0.10%) reported in October 2025.
The report also revealed Philippine's unemployment, underemployment, and labour force participation rate (LFPR) for November 2025.
Unemployment
The unemployment rate increased to 4.4% in November 2025, up from 3.2% in November 2024. On a month-on-month basis, however, the rate declined from 5.0% in October 2025.
In absolute terms, the number of unemployed persons stood at 2.25mn in November 2025, which is higher than the 1.66mn recorded a year earlier but lower than the 2.54mn reported in October 2025.
Underemployment
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, underemployed persons refer to employed persons who have expressed the desire to take on additional hours of work in their job, or to take on an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work.
In November 2025, the underemployment rate eased to 10.4%, compared with 10.8% in the same month last year and 12.0% in October 2025.
In terms of levels, 5.11mn out of the 49.26mn employed persons in November 2025 indicated a desire for additional working hours, whether through more hours in their current job, an additional job, or a new job with longer hours.
Of the total underemployed during the month, 68.3% worked less than 40 hours per week, including those who did not work during the reference period (visibly underemployed), while the remaining 31.7% worked 40 hours or more per week (invisibly underemployed).
LFPR
The LFPR among youth aged 15 to 24 stood at 88.3% in November 2025, down from 90.6% in the same month last year but higher than the 85.9% recorded in October 2025.
Of the 5.62mn employed youth during the period, 528,000 were underemployed, resulting in an underemployment rate of 9.4% in November 2025.
In a statement, Bienvenido E. Laguesma, Secretary of the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) noted that employment gains recorded on a year-on-year basis were concentrated in higher- and middle-skill occupations, particularly among technicians, professionals, and managers. This trend points to sustained demand for specialised and technical skills, a pattern that also appeared month-on-month, with notable gains among craft and related workers.
He linked the decline in underemployment in November 2025 to the "continued progress in improving job quality, particularly through the implementation of initiatives and programs under the Philippine Labour and Employment Plan 2023–2028 and the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Plan 2025-2034 such as skills development programs, youth employability programmes, enterprise support, among other targeted assistance for workers."
On unemployment in the labour force in November 2025, the Secretary noted that the month-on-month decrease in the unemployment figures reflects a broader normalisation of economic activity toward the year’s end, particularly as businesses ramp up operations in anticipation of the holiday season and year-end demand, and more people wanting short-term work engagements.
Furthermore, the month-on-month gains in employment reflect the resumption of services and trade activities that were temporarily disrupted in the previous month due to reported natural calamities.
"The DOLE continues to closely monitor labour market developments and strengthen employment facilitation services through the expanded reach of Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs), which placed more than 2.2mn jobseekers from January to November 2025 with a placement rate of 93%.
"These efforts are complemented by sustained international cooperation underscoring the country’s role in advancing responsive and modern public employment services," he added.
Looking ahead, Secretary Laguesma said that DOLE and its partners in the public and private sectors will continue to focus its efforts in fostering economic growth and creating quality jobs for all Filipinos.
READ MORE: Redefining hiring in 2026: Why skills, agility, and AI readiness now lead the race
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