Manila: The underemployment rate in Eastern Visayas fell to 13.5 percent in 2025, down from 16.2 percent in 2024, resulting in 70,000 fewer workers seeking additional work hours compared to the previous year, as revealed by the latest Labor Force Survey.

According to Philippines News Agency, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-Eastern Visayas Director Wilma Perante attributed the decline to an increase in full-time employment opportunities, sustained infrastructure investments, and holiday or seasonal economic boosts enabling existing workers to take on more hours.

Underemployed individuals are defined as employed persons expressing the desire to work additional hours in their current job, take on another job, or find new employment with longer working hours.

The report indicates that about 266,000 of the region's 1.98 million employed individuals sought additional work or longer working hours in 2025. Of these, 69.7 percent worked less than 40 hours a week, including those who did not work during the reference period, classified as visibly underemployed. The remaining 30.3 percent worked 40 hours or more per week but still desired additional work or income opportunities, placing them among the invisibly underemployed.

Despite the improvement, Eastern Visayas' underemployment rate remained higher than the national average of 11.9 percent, ranking ninth nationwide among regions with the highest underemployment rates. In terms of overall employment, Eastern Visayas recorded a 96.1 percent employment rate in 2025, a slight decline from 97.2 percent in 2024. This corresponds to about 2.06 million Filipinos aged 15 and over being part of the labor force in 2025, lower than the 2.13 million recorded in 2024.

The region's labor force participation rate decreased to 60.5 percent in 2025 from 63.6 percent the previous year.