By Lane Afable, News Editor
Filipinos are finding jobs as the labor market strengthened in February 2026; with the unemployment rate declining to 5.1% from 5.8% in January 2026 — reflecting the government’s commitment to create quality jobs, expand opportunities for small businesses, and provide targeted support to vulnerable households amid external and economic uncertainties.
Finance Secretary Frederick Go reported that more people are joining the workforce, with the overall labor force participation rising to 52.1 million, up from 50.9 million in January, with female participation increasing to 21.6 million from 20.6 million the previous month.
The number of employed Filipinos, Go said, rose to 49.4 million, up from 47.9 million in January. Among them, 31.5 million (63.8% of total employment) were wage and salary workers. Of which, 24.7 million were employed in private establishments.
By sector, bulk employment was in services (63.5% of total employment), followed by agriculture (18.8%), and industry (17.7%).
In February, 2.7 million Filipinos were unemployed, an improvement from 3.0 million the previous month; while the number of underemployed also fell to 5.8 million from 6.3 million in January.
Government programs support vulnerable workers and OFWs amid crisis
The government is complementing these positive trends with programs to help vulnerable workers, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) amid the ongoing Middle East conflict.
To support these modern-day heroes, the government is providing free skills training to 8,000 repatriated OFWs and preparing 200,000 overseas job opportunities, along with job matching, livelihood, and financial assistance programs.
The government also offers livelihood programs, financial assistance, and cash support to vulnerable workers and small businesses across the country.
“These efforts show that our government is not only tracking employment numbers but also ensuring that Filipinos and their families feel the real impact of these programs,” Go said
