TACLOBAN CITY– The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) of Eastern Visayas in October 2025 decreased to 59.4 percent, from 63.6 percent in October 2024. However, it is higher compared with the 58.1 percent labor force participation rate in July 2025.
The 59.4 percent LFPR placed the region’s labor force at 2.02 million persons who were either employed or unemployed out of the 3.40 million population 15 years old and over in October 2025.
In October 2024, the number of individuals aged 15 years old and over who were in the labor force was 2.13 million, while in July 2025, the number was 1.97 million individuals.
Among regions, BARMM registered the highest LFPR in October 2025 at 69.6 percent.
Eastern Visayas’ 59.4 percent LFPR was the lowest among regions, and one among eight (8) regions with LFPRs lower than the 63.6 percent national estimate.
The region’s employment rate in October 2025 dropped to 93.9 percent, from 96.9 percent in October 2024 and 94.7 percent in July 2025.
The 93.9 percent employment rate translates to 1.90 million employed persons out of the 2.02 million persons in the labor force of Eastern Visayas in October 2025.
The number of employed persons in October 2025 was lower than the 2.07 million employed persons in October 2024 but higher than the 1.87 million employed persons reported in July 2025.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate of Eastern Visayas in October 2025 was 6.1 percent, higher than the 3.1 percent unemployment rate in October 2024 and 5.3 percent in July 2025.
The number of unemployed individuals in October 2025 was 124 thousand. This was higher than the 66 thousand unemployed individuals in October 2024 and also higher than the 105,000 unemployed individuals in July 2025.
Underemployed population is the proportion of employed population who expresses the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, or an additional job or to have a new job with longer working hours. The underemployment rate of Eastern Visayas increased to 14.0 percent in October 2025, from 12.6 percent in October 2024.
However, it was lower than the 17.7 percent underemployment rate in July 2025. This means that out of the 1.90 million employed individuals in October 2025, there were 266,000 underemployed or persons who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work. (PR)
