Costa Rica Unemployment Hits Women and Youth Hardest
ECONOMY · COSTA RICA
Key Facts
- —The country Costa Rica, a Central American nation of about 5 million people. In June–August 2026, 2.19 million had jobs and 157,000 were unemployed, statistics institute INEC says.
- —What happened On 3 October 2026, Maritza Hernández, president of the business federation UCCAEP (52 member chambers), told La Nación that unemployment “has a young face and a woman’s face”.
- —The numbers Women’s jobless rate was 7.3% against 6.4% for men in June–August 2026 (INEC). Youth unemployment was 18% in January–March 2026, economists’ analysis of INEC data shows.
- —What it means for you Employers blame training that misses business demand and a shortage of childcare. Both are slow fixes, so the gaps are unlikely to close within months.
- —Still open What UCCAEP’s human-talent commission will propose, and whether INEC’s next monthly survey, for July–September, confirms the rise in joblessness.
Costa Rica unemployment “has a young face and a woman’s face”, says the head of the country’s main private-sector federation. Maritza Hernández, president of UCCAEP, made the remark in an interview the daily La Nación published on Saturday, 3 October.
INEC, the statistics institute, put joblessness at 6.7% in June–August 2026, up from 6.0% a year earlier. The Rio Times covered those figures on 2 October in Costa Rica Unemployment Rises to 6.7% as Jobs Fall.
What the business chamber said
UCCAEP is the umbrella body of Costa Rica’s private business chambers, with 52 affiliated chambers. Asked about weak youth participation in the labour market, Hernández widened the point to women.
For young people, she said, the courses and technical skills they acquire do not match what companies need. She called for career guidance that steers students towards the fields employers are hiring in.
For women, she pointed to what she called a “historic debt” with the national childcare network. Many women who want children, she said, hesitate because of the effect on their jobs.
She said the federation’s human-talent commission is working on the issue and will soon be “very active”. She did not give details or a date.
What the official data show
INEC’s continuous employment survey supports the point on women, with a caveat. In June–August 2026 the women’s jobless rate was 7.3%, against 6.4% for men.
Fewer women are in the labour market at all. Only 41.9% of women aged 15 and over work or look for work, against 66.9% of men.
The caveat is direction. The gap has narrowed sharply since June–August 2023, when women’s unemployment stood at 11.1% and men’s at 7.4%.
This year’s rise was also driven by men. INEC flags only the men’s increase, of 1.0 point, as statistically significant; women’s moved from 6.9% to 7.3%.
Young people face the steepest odds
INEC’s monthly release does not break unemployment down by age. The most recent analysis comes from the Colegio de Ciencias Económicas, the professional body for economists.
Using INEC’s January–March 2026 survey, it put youth unemployment at 18%, three times the 6% for other age groups. CRHoy and Semanario Universidad reported the analysis in August.
An earlier study by the National University (UNA) found young women hit hardest. In April–June 2025, it put the rate for women aged 15 to 24 at 29.6%, against 22.4% for young men.
Taxes, free zones and power prices
Hernández also rejected tax increases in fiscal bills from the finance ministry, citing informality of “more than 45%”. INEC’s own measure puts informal employment lower, at 36.1% of workers in June–August 2026.
She linked slower hiring in free-trade zones to skills, electricity costs and climate change. She urged legislators to concentrate on passing a bill to harmonise the electricity system.
What Is Not Yet Known
UCCAEP has not yet published proposals on training or childcare. Age data for the latest quarter are also not yet available.
INEC’s next survey, for July–September, will show whether the rise in joblessness holds. The Rio Times’ wider look at Costa Rica’s Economy Cools but Stays Solid in 2026 sets the jobs data in context.
Sources: La Nación, interview with UCCAEP president Maritza Hernández, 3 October 2026; INEC, Encuesta Continua de Empleo, June–August 2026, 1 October 2026; CRHoy, on the Colegio de Ciencias Económicas youth analysis, 10 August 2026; Semanario Universidad, youth unemployment, 12 August 2026; CRHoy, on the UNA study of post-pandemic labour trends, 23 September 2025; earlier Rio Times report, Costa Rica Unemployment Rises to 6.7% as Jobs Fall, 2 October 2026.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error
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