The Philippines’ unemployment rate fell to 5.3% in August from 6.0% in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced on Tuesday.

PSA, however said that it remained significantly higher than the 3.9% recorded a year earlier.

The latest figure translated to about 2.77 million unemployed Filipinos in August, down from 3.14 million in July but up from 2.03 million in August 2025, according to the PSA.

Meanwhile, the employment rate rose to 94.7% in August from 94.0% in July, but was lower than the 96.1% recorded a year earlier.

The number of employed people stood at 49.79 million in August, up from 49.21 million in July but down from 50.10 million in August 2025.

On the other hand, the underemployment rate — the share of employed people who want additional hours or another job — eased to 11.9% in August from 12.9% in July, but remained higher than the 10.7% recorded a year earlier.

The PSA estimated that 5.90 million employed Filipinos were underemployed in August. Of that number, 64.5% worked fewer than 40 hours a week, while 35.5% worked 40 hours or more.

Among young Filipinos aged 15 to 24, the labor force participation rate fell to 32.7% in August from 33.3% a year earlier and 33.7% in July.

The youth employment rate, however, rose to 84.3% in August from 81.4% in July, although it remained below the 88.3% recorded in August 2025.

About 5.95 million young people were employed in August, including roughly 587,000 who were underemployed, resulting in a youth underemployment rate of 9.9%.

The August figures provide a mixed picture of the Philippine labor market, with unemployment and underemployment improving from the previous month but remaining weaker than levels recorded a year earlier.