The unemployment rate in the Philippines stood at 3.9% in October 2024, down from 4.2% in October 2023, according to preliminary estimates from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

When compared to the prior month, the unemployment rate was up 0.2% from 3.7% in September 2024.

In terms of magnitude, the number of unemployed individuals in October 2024 was posted at 1.97 million. This was lower than the estimated number of unemployed persons of 2.09 million in October 2023.

At the same time, in October 2024, the employment rate was recorded at 96.1%. This was higher than the employment rate in October 2023 at 95.8%.

By broad industry group, services continued to be the top sector in terms of the number of employed persons, with a share of 61.0% of the total employed persons in October 2024. The agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 21.2% and 17.9% of the total number of employed persons.

Wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons, with 63.8% of the total number of employed persons in October 2024. This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.7% and unpaid family workers at 5.9%. Employers in own-family-operated farms or businesses had the lowest share of 2.6%.

Meanwhile, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) in October 2024 was estimated at 63.3%, lower than the estimated LFPR in October 2023 at 63.9%.

The reported LFPR in October 2024 translated to a total of 50.12 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and over who were in the labour force or those who were either employed or unemployed. For comparison, the number of individuals aged 15 years old and over who were in the labour force was 49.88 million in October 2023.

Youth LFPR decreased to 31.3% in October 2024 from 34.1% in October 2023. The youth employment rate was estimated at 87.5% in October 2024, lower than the estimated rate of 88.6% in October 2023.

The proportion of youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET) in October 2024 increased to 12.4% from 11.7% in October 2023.

On average, employed persons worked 41.0 hours per week. This was lower than the average hours worked in a week in October 2023 at 41.2 hours.

About 45,000 employed persons worked for exactly one hour in October 2024, or 0.09% of the total number of employed persons. This is slightly higher than the recorded number in October 2023 at 41,000 employed persons (0.09%).