Unemployment in Chile drops below 10% for first time in over a year – INE
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Chile’s unemployment rate dropped to 9.5% in June, representing a decrease of 2.7% compared to the same period last year and the first time the figure has fallen below 10% since April 2020, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) reported Friday, July 30.
The improvement is owed to the increase in the labor force (9.2%), lower than that of employed (12.6%), and to the 15.1% drop in the number of idle workers, influenced only by the number of people laid off (-17.0%), the institution explained.
According to sex, the unemployment rate for women stood at 9.7% and for men at 9.3%, decreasing by 2% and 3.3%, respectively, in 12 months.
Seasonally adjusted, the unemployment rate fell 0.4% with respect to the previous month, as a result of the decrease in the labor force (-0.3 %) and the unemployed (-3.9 %) and the increase in the employed (0.1 %).
The number of employed persons increased by 12.6%, with men (12.0%) outnumbering women (13.4%).
The growth in employed was driven by construction (40.2%), retail (13.0%), and accommodation and catering (37.6%). By occupational category, the main growth rates were recorded for self-employed workers (35.1%) and formal employees (6.6%).
The informal employment rate stood at 26.0%, up 3.6% in 12 months. Likewise, the number of informally employed increased by 30.8%, influenced by both men (28.5%) and women (34.0%) and by self-employed workers (43.0%).
With almost 80% of the target population (some 15 million) vaccinated and a sustained decline in the number of infections, Chile is starting to emerge from the pandemic after several waves that caused the economy to plummet by 5.8% in 2020, the worst figure in four decades.
The unemployment rate reached 13.1% in July 2020, the highest figure recorded by INE since 2010.
For 2021, the Central Bank estimates Chile’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to range between 8.5% and 9.5%, which is in line with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC) projection for the country, at 8%.
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