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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Mindanao devider Davao region logs fewer unemployed persons in 2025

Davao region logs fewer unemployed persons in 2025

Published May 28, 2026 05:42 pm
DAVAO CITY – The number of unemployed individuals in Region 11 fell to about 73,000 in 2025 from 79,000 in 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority in Davao region reported.
Data obtained from PSA-Davao said the region’s unemployment rate improved to 2.9 percent in 2025 from 3.2 percent a year earlier.
The employment rate in the region rose slightly to 97.1 percent from 96.8 percent in 2024, while the labor force participation rate increased to 65.4 percent from 64.5 percent.
The region's labor force reached about 2.55 million persons aged 15 years and over in 2025, up from 2.47 million in 2024.
The number of employed persons also climbed to around 2.48 million from 2.39 million in the previous year.
Among provinces and highly urbanized cities, Davao del Sur posted the highest labor force participation rate at 69.9 percent, while Davao Oriental registered the lowest at 62.8 percent.
Three areas posted labor force participation rates above the regional average of 65.4 percent: Davao del Sur at 69.9 percent, Davao Occidental at 68.7 percent, and Davao del Norte at 66.4 percent.
The PSA also reported that Davao City had the highest unemployment rate among provinces and HUCs at 3.8 percent in 2025 while Davao del Sur posted the lowest unemployment rate at 1.5 percent.
Four provinces recorded unemployment rates below the regional average of 2.9 percent: Davao del Sur at 1.5 percent, Davao de Oro (1.9), Davao del Norte (2.6), and Davao Occidental (2.8).
By sector, the PSA-11 said, services accounted for the largest share of employment in the region at 56.4 percent of the total employed population in 2025, followed by agriculture at 28 percent and industry at 15.5 percent.
For the sub-sector, the top contributors to employment were agriculture and forestry at 26.1 percent, wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles at 19.8 percent, and construction at 8.7 percent.
By worker’s class, wage and salary workers made up the majority of the workforce at 61.3 percent in 2025.
Self-employed workers were followed by workers without any paid employees (29 percent), unpaid family workers (7.4 percent), and employers in their own family-operated farm or business (2.3 percent).
The average weekly hours worked by employed persons in the region was estimated at 38.2 hours in 2025, slightly higher than the 37.7 hours recorded in 2024.
The underemployment rate in the region declined to 3.9 percent in 2025 from 4.4 percent in 2024.
In terms of magnitude, about 96,000 of the 2.48 million employed individuals said they wanted additional hours in their current job, an additional job, or a new job with longer hours.
The PSA-Davao said 70.8 percent of the underemployed in 2025 worked less than 40 hours a week, including those who did not work during the reference period, while 29.2 percent worked 40 hours or more a week.
Among provinces and HUCs, Davao Occidental recorded the highest underemployment rate at 5.8 percent, while Davao Oriental posted the lowest at 1.2 percent.
Two areas recorded underemployment rates below the regional average of 3.9 percent: Davao Oriental at 1.2 percent and Davao del Sur at 3.5 percent.
Youth labor indicators also showed mixed results.
The labor force participation rate among youth aged 15 to 24 years declined to 33.3 percent in 2025 from 34.3 percent in 2024.
However, the employment rate for the same age group improved to 91.1 percent from 90.4 percent in the previous year.
The proportion of youth not in education, employment, or training, or NEET, slightly improved to 12 percent in 2025 from 13.9 percent in 2024, the PSA said.
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