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Based on the preliminary estimates for 2024, the unemployment rate in Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) in the Philippines was at 4.8 percent, significantly lower than the previous year’s estimates. The region’s unemployment rate peaked in 2020 during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Which Metro Manila city has the highest unemployment rate?

Valenzuela City had the highest unemployment rate among other cities in Metro Manila in 2022, which was estimated at 9.3 percent. This was followed by the cities of Caloocan and Malabon. Meanwhile, the capital city of Manila had an unemployment rate of about 8.6 percent. The region’s labor force participation rate has been steadily increasing since 2018, although it remains to have one of the lowest employment rates nationwide.

Daily minimum wages in Metro Manila

As of January 2025, workers in the non-agricultural industries in the National Capital Region (NCR) had a minimum wage of 608Philippine pesos—the highest nationwide. Despite agriculture not being the leading industry in the region, workers in the agricultural plantation industries also had the same daily minimum wage. As of January 2024, the Philippines had one of the lowest minimum monthly wages in the Asia-Pacific region.