Colombia Unemployment Falls to 9.2% in February, Lowest Since 2001
Key Points
— Colombia’s unemployment rate fell to 9.2% in February 2026 — the lowest reading for that month since 2001 — with 24.09 million people employed and 186,000 fewer unemployed compared to the same period last year
— Professional, scientific, technical, and administrative services led job creation with 1.1 percentage points of contribution, followed by public administration, defense, education, and healthcare at 1.0pp
— The headline improvement masks persistent structural challenges: female unemployment remains at 13.8% versus 8.7% for men, youth unemployment stands at 15.3%, and cities like Quibdó (26.3%) and Cartagena (14.2%) face far higher rates
Colombia unemployment dropped to 9.2% in February, its lowest level for that month in 25 years, according to data released Monday by the national statistics agency DANE. The Rio Times, the Latin American financial news outlet, reports that the figure continues a declining trend from January’s 10.9% and marks a significant improvement from February 2025’s 11.6% — though the gains are unevenly distributed across gender, age, and geography.
The country reached 24.09 million employed persons in February, while the number of unemployed fell by 186,000 compared to a year earlier. The labor force participation rate held steady at 64.7%, and the employment rate rose to 58.7% from 58.0% — suggesting the improvement reflects genuine job creation rather than workers leaving the labor force.
What Drove the Colombia Unemployment Decline
Professional, scientific, technical, and administrative services contributed the most to employment growth at 1.1 percentage points, followed by public administration, defense, education, and healthcare at 1.0pp. Arts, entertainment, recreation, and other services added 0.8pp — a mix that reflects both private-sector dynamism and continued public-sector hiring under the Petro government.
The rolling three-month rate (December 2025–February 2026) came in at 9.4%, down a full percentage point from the same window a year earlier. The participation rate in that trimester was 64.2% with an employment rate of 58.2%, compared to 64.4% and 57.7% respectively in the prior-year period.
The Gaps That Remain
The gender gap remains stark: men recorded 8.7% unemployment while women faced 13.8% — a 5.1-percentage-point differential that has barely narrowed despite the headline improvement. Youth unemployment stood at 15.3% in the rolling trimester, declining year-on-year but still nearly double the national rate.
Geographic disparities were even more pronounced. Among 23 cities and metropolitan areas tracked, Quibdó recorded 26.3% unemployment — more than triple the national average — followed by Riohacha at 14.3% and Cartagena at 14.2%. These are cities where formal employment remains scarce and self-employment dominates.
Context and Outlook
The labor data arrives as Colombia’s central bank prepares to raise interest rates to an expected 11.25% this week, a move that could dampen future hiring. With 2.8 million people still unemployed and President Petro’s 23.7% minimum wage increase feeding into inflation expectations, the question is whether the labor market can sustain its momentum against tightening monetary conditions.
DANE’s own data suggests a cautionary note within the improvement: much of the January decline was driven by rising self-employment and exits from the labor force rather than formal job creation. Whether February’s stronger figures reflect a genuine structural shift — or the last leg of a cyclical recovery before rate hikes bite — will become clearer in the coming months as election-year spending collides with monetary tightening.
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