Unemployment in Chile is at its highest level since 2021

Unemployment in Chile rose to 8.4% in the December 2022 – February 2023 moving quarter, exceeding market expectations.

This is the fourth consecutive annual increase after months of decline and the highest level since September 2021.

According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), the figure represented an increase of 0.9 percentage points (pp.) in twelve months because the “rise in the labor force (4.0%) was greater than that presented by employed persons (3.0%)”.

According to a press release from the institution, unemployed people increased by 16%, “affected by those who were unemployed (16.8%) and those looking for work for the first time (9.8%)”.

The state agency said participation and employment rates continued to rise at a “slower pace” and stood at 60.9% and 55.8%, growing 1.7 pp. and 1.1 pp., respectively.

“Compared to the same quarter of 2021 and 2022, the participation rate is higher but lower concerning 2020 (pre-pandemic). On the other hand, the population outside the labor force decreased by 3.4%,” the report noted.

However, the informal employment rate reached 27.3%, decreasing by 0.5 pp. in twelve months.

Meanwhile, the number of informally employed people grew by 1.1%, affected only by women (7.7%), since men decreased by 3.7%.

With information from Bloomberg