Unemployment in PH eases to 5% in March as underemployment climbs to 12.3%

2.58 million Filipinos remained jobless while more than 6 million workers sought extra work amid global economic uncertainty.

The Philippines’ labor market showed a slight easing in unemployment in March 2026, even as year-on-year comparisons continued to reflect a weaker jobs environment. The latest data also came amid ongoing global uncertainty that may be starting to weigh on labor conditions.

Unemployment slipped to 5% in March from 5.1% in February, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The jobless numbers

This translated to 2.58 million unemployed Filipinos, a slight improvement from 2.66 million in February but still significantly higher than the 1.93 million recorded in March 2025.

Despite the monthly improvement in joblessness, employment dipped to 95% from 94.9% in February. Year-on-year, however, this remained weaker than the 96.1% employment rate recorded in March 2025.

In actual numbers, 49.07 million Filipinos were employed in March, lower than 49.43 million in February, but above the 48.02 million recorded a year earlier.

Labor force participation also softened to 63.3% from 63.8% in February, though it remained higher than the 62.9% posted in March 2025. This represented 51.65 million people in the labor force, down from 52.09 million in the previous month.

Meanwhile, the country’s underemployment situation showed mixed signals in March, improving compared with a year earlier but slightly worsening from the previous month, reflecting continued pressure on job quality.

The underemployment trap

Underemployment stood at 12.3%, affecting around 6.03 million workers.

This was lower than the 13.4% recorded in March 2025, suggesting some year-on-year improvement in job quality. However, it was higher than February 2026’s 11.8%, or 5.84 million underemployed workers, pointing to a slight month-on-month increase.

The latest labor figures painted a mixed picture: unemployment edged lower, employment levels remained relatively steady, but more Filipinos were still looking for additional work or longer hours.

The March data also partially reflected early economic ripple effects tied to global tensions, including the first four weeks of the US-Iran conflict, which may have influenced labor market sentiment and activity.

Overall, the labor market posted modest gains in joblessness but continued to face pressure in job quality and stability.