Local economy
Davao City Jobs Improve in 2025 as Employment Hits 96.2%, PSA Says
PSA data shows Davao City’s employment rate rose to 96.2 percent in 2025, with unemployment down to 3.8 percent and more residents joining the labor force.
Employment rose in 2025
Davao City’s employment situation improved in 2025, with fresh data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showing the city’s employment rate climbing to 96.2 percent from 95.7 percent the year before.
The figures come from the 2025 Preliminary Key Employment Indicators released by PSA Davao del Sur, covering the working-age population aged 15 years old and over.
For context, the employment rate counts everyone in that age group who either has a job and is actively working, or has a job but is temporarily away from it during the survey reference period. In plain terms, of every 100 Dabawenyos in the working-age labor force, more than 96 were considered employed last year.
Unemployment fell while participation improved
The city’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent in 2025, down from 4.3 percent in 2024. PSA defines the unemployed as those who are 15 years old and over, without work, currently available for work, and either actively seeking work or not seeking one for various reasons.
Davao City’s Labor Force Participation Rate also ticked upward, reaching 64.4 percent in 2025 compared to 63.8 percent the previous year. This measures the share of residents aged 15 and over who are either employed or actively looking for work.
Those outside the labor force include people who are retired, permanently disabled, occupied with household or family duties, or still in school. PSA separates them from the unemployed because they are neither seeking work nor available for it.
How Davao fits the regional picture
Based on PSA estimates, Davao City has roughly 1.3 million residents aged 15 years old and over, the population from which these labor indicators are drawn.
The numbers are consistent with a broader improvement across Davao Region. PSA data shows the region’s overall employment rate reached 97.1 percent in 2025, making it the second highest among the country’s 18 administrative regions.
Davao City posted the lowest employment rate among the region’s provinces and highly urbanized cities, but still recorded meaningful year-on-year gains.
Underemployment also eased in the region
Underemployment in Davao Region fell to 3.9 percent in 2025 from 4.4 percent in 2024, the lowest underemployment rate of any region in the Philippines.
Around 96,000 employed individuals in the region said they were looking for additional hours or a second job. That detail matters because while more people are working, a portion still want more than what their current job provides.
Taken together, the data paints a cautiously positive picture for Davao City’s labor market going into the second half of the decade, even as job quality and youth employment remain worth watching.