Philippine unemployment rate went down to 5.3 percent in August from six percent in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Wednesday.

In terms of magnitude, the number of unemployed persons was estimated at 2.77 million in August 2026, lower than the 3.14 million recorded in July but higher than the 2.03 million in August 2025.

In terms of levels, the number of employed persons in August was 49.79 million, a decrease from 50.10 million employed in August 2025 but an increase from 49.21 million in July.

The services sector made up the highest employment with a share of 61.7 percent of the total employed persons in August.

The agriculture and Industry sectors accounted for 20.9 percent and 17.3 percent of the total number of employed persons, respectively. By sub-sector, the top three with the highest employment were wholesale and retail Trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (19 percent), agriculture and forestry (18.6 percent), and construction (10.3 percent). Philippine Statistics Authority