Colombia’s unemployment rate fell to 8% in September, down 0.2 percentage points from 8.2% in the same month a year earlier, the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane) said on Friday. The reading followed a jump to 9.4% in August, and the number of unemployed fell by 16,200 over the year to 2.11 million.
Jobs and participation
The employed population reached 24.25 million in September, an increase of 322,000 on a year earlier. The global participation rate eased to 63.8% from 63.9%, while the employment rate stood at 58.7%.
Commerce and vehicle repair contributed 0.7 percentage points to employment growth, and manufacturing added 0.4 points. Transport and storage added 0.3 points. Commerce generated 162,000 jobs.
Losses in primary activities
Primary activities, which include agriculture, livestock, hunting, forestry and fishing, subtracted 0.8 percentage points from employment growth. Employment in those activities fell by 184,000 to 3.19 million.
Employed wage workers rose by 184,000 and self-employed workers by 144,000. Government employees fell by 68,000 and domestic workers by 26,000.
Regional picture
Quibdó recorded the highest unemployment rate of the cities Dane tracks, at 23.4% for the July-September quarter. Cartagena stood at 13.7% and Tunja at 13.2%, while Bogotá posted 7.6%.
Of the 14.97 million people outside the labour force, 55% were engaged in household chores and 23.6% in studying.
Related: Euro area unemployment holds at 6.5% in September · Türkiye unemployment rate rises to 8.4 percent in September
Source: National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane) | Data: FRED — St. Louis Fed
