Unemployment in Chile rises to 8.5% in March-May, marking seventh consecutive increase

Unemployment in Chile has continued its upward trend, reaching 8.5% in the mobile quarter of March-May 2023, compared to 7.8% in the same period last year, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE).

This marks the seventh consecutive annual increase in unemployment after a period of continuous decreases since March-May 2021.

The rise in the labor force (2.8%) outpaced the increase in employed individuals (2%), resulting in a 0.7 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate.

Unemployed individuals saw a significant expansion of 12.3%, influenced by those previously unemployed (15%).

The participation and employment rates continued to grow, albeit at a slower pace, with rates of 60.9% and 55.7% respectively.

The population outside the labor force decreased by 1.9%.

For women in Chile, the unemployment rate was 9.1%, representing a 0.6% increase compared to the previous year.

Women’s participation and employment rates stood at 51.3% and 46.6% respectively, with a 1.5% and 1% increase over the year.

Among men, the unemployment rate was 8.1%, up by 0.8%, while participation and employment rates were 71% and 65.2% respectively.

After experiencing rapid growth of 11.7% in 2021 and a faster-than-expected recovery from the pandemic, Chile’s economy began to slow down in the second half of 2022, achieving a 2.4% growth last year compared to the previous year.

Chile also faced high inflation in 2022, recording a year-on-year increase of 12.8%, the highest in 30 years.

The Central Bank responded to this by raising the benchmark interest rate to 11.25% in October, the highest level since 2001, and has maintained it at that level since then.

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