The Philippine labor market showed resilience in April as the unemployment rate declined to 4.7 percent, the first time it has fallen below 5 percent this year.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority indicated that the number of unemployed Filipinos decreased to 2.41 million in April from 2.58 million in March. This marked the third consecutive month of improvement, though the figure remained higher than the 2.06 million recorded in April 2025. Underemployment rose sharply to 7.41 million, or 15.2 percent, up from 6.03 million or 12.3 percent in March. Economists at Chinabank Research noted that the increase was driven mainly by workers in transportation and storage, including jeepney, taxi, and motorcycle ride-hailing drivers affected by higher fuel prices. The employment rate improved slightly to 95.3 percent, while the labor force participation rate eased to 62.7 percent. Chinabank Research stated that the overall labor market remained robust despite the impact of the Middle East conflict and slower government infrastructure spending.
