Manila, Oct 8 : The Philippines' unemployment rate in August decreased to 3.9 per cent, down from 5.3 per cent in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday.

PSA Chief Dennis Mapa said in a press conference that an estimated 2.03 million Filipinos were out of work in August this year, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The unemployment rate in August 2024 was 4 per cent.

The Philippines' Department of Economy, Planning, and Development said the improved national unemployment rate in August was partially offset by job contractions in the services sector, particularly in wholesale and retail trade.

Job losses were also recorded in the public administration and defence, as well as in the education sector.

Earlier on Tuesday, the PSA said that the Philippines' year-on-year headline inflation quickened to 1.7 per cent in September from 1.5 per cent in August, due to higher transport and food costs.

In a news conference, PSA Chief Dennis Mapa said that the uptrend in overall inflation in September was primarily driven by the annual increase in the transport index, which rose to 1 per cent from a yearly decline of 0.3 per cent in August.

Also contributing to the uptrend in overall inflation was the higher annual increment in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index, at 1 per cent in September, compared to 0.9 per cent in the previous month.

Mapa said that the September inflation rate brings the national average inflation from January to September 2025 to 1.7 per cent. In September 2024, the inflation rate was higher at 1.9 per cent.

Core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, slowed down to 2.6 per cent in September 2025.

In September 2024, the core inflation rate was noted at 2.4 per cent.

/IANS