A slowing economy pushed the Philippines' jobless rate to 6.8 percent in October, half a percentage point up from a year earlier, the government said Tuesday.
Some 34.5 million of the estimated 37.1 million people in the labour force held down jobs, compared to 33.7 million in October 2007, according to National Statistics Office data.
The economy grew 4.6 percent over the nine months to September amid a global financial crisis, which was well down from its 7.2 percent for the whole of 2007.
Official data show about half of those employed worked in the services sector, 35.7 percent worked in the farm and fisheries sectors, and 14.7 percent in the industrial sector.