MANILA, Philippines – Unemployment dropped to 4.4% in November 2025 amid seasonal employment during the holidays, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Wednesday, January 7.

The latest jobless rate is equivalent to 2.25 million Filipinos, lower than the 5% or 2.54 million jobless Filipinos recorded in October but higher than the 3.2% or 1.66 million unemployed Filipinos logged in November 2024.

Meanwhile, underemployment also eased to 10.4% or 5.11 million Filipinos from 12% or 5.81 million underemployed Filipinos recorded in October 2025.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the public administration and defense sector and the education sector added the most jobs year-on-year, employing around 185,000 and 176,000 more workers, respectively.

But the accommodation and food services sector as well as the wholesale and retail trade sector shed the most jobs as the economy grappled with the impact of Typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi) and Super Typhoon Uwan (Fung-wong) in November.

Mapa said restaurants (-191,000), short-term accommodations (-76,000), and event catering (-23,000) shed the most jobs.

“Ang reading namin is that because of these [tropical cyclones], nagkaroon ng slowdown in economic activities related to tourism, doon sa accommodation services at of course, ‘yung retail trade,” he explained.

(Our reading is that there was a slowdown in economic activities related to tourism because of these tropical cyclones, particularly in accommodation services and of course, retail trade.)

The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) also estimated that Tino and Uwan affected some 873,000 workers.

Mapa further noted that the agriculture and forestry sector has lost 517,000 jobs since October.

“Employment in the agricultural sector has always been sensitive to weather conditions,” he said in Filipino.

Despite disruptions in the construction sector due to the flood control scandal, Mapa said they did not see a correlation between the ongoing corruption probe and job losses. In fact, the construction sector added around 143,000 jobs between October and November.

To minimize business disruptions, DEPDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government will support businesses in crafting continuity and resiliency plans. He added that DEPDev is pushing for the full implementation of the Philippine Innovation Act to help develop more entrepreneurs and boost job demand.

The country’s chief economist also said the government is prioritizing investments in skills development and lifelong learning to empower workers and allow them to weather economic shocks.

Data from online job portal Jobstreet by SEEK found that candidates from call centers and customer service were the most active jobseekers on the platform, but administrative and office support roles were the most in-demand roles being recruited for.

Meanwhile, jobseekers were on the lookout for jobs in engineering and education.

“Strengthening workforce competitiveness is one of the key elements to attract investments that generate quality jobs,” Balisacan said. – with reports from Arriane dela Cruz/Rappler.com

Arriane dela Cruz is a Rappler intern. Learn more about Rappler’s internship program here.