Colombia’s unemployment rate rose in January to 17.3%

In the latest report on unemployment in Colombia, the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane) detailed that in January 2021, the unemployment rate was 17.3%, which represents an increase of 4.3 percentage points compared to the results of December 2020, when the rate was 13%.

That means 2021 has started with the destruction of 1.5 million jobs, reflecting a setback for the employment gains seen in December in Colombia.

Dane’s director, Juan Daniel Oviedo, explained in delivering the report that a significant contraction in the sectors of manufacturing industry, artistic activities and accommodation and catering, 404,000, 387,000 and 278,000 jobs were destroyed, respectively.

He also clarified that The loss of jobs in January was concentrated in the 13 main cities, where the loss of 753,000 jobs was recorded and the unemployment rate in these regions fell to 19.5%.

“The increase in the unemployed population in the 13 main cities of the country corresponds to 80% of the national total. This is a proportion that we had not seen in the months of the pandemic and, consequently, a good part of the results which are associated with the dynamics of the 13 cities and especially of the five most important of them ”, a he specified.

Breakdown by cities and metropolitan regions of unemployment rates in January 2021

The cities that recorded the highest unemployment rates during the November 2020 to January 2021 quarter were:

1. Quibdó: 21.5% (overall activity rate: 50.6%; employment rate: 39.7%; target underemployment rate: 4.3%).

2. Neiva: 21.0% (overall activity rate: 58.5%; employment rate: 46.2%; target underemployment rate: 8.0%).

3. Ibagué: 20.9% (overall activity rate: 57.8%; employment rate 45.7%; target underemployment rate: 7.0%).

Bogotá had the worst performance among the 23 cities and metropolitan areas by increasing its unemployment rate by 7.1 percentage points (statistically significant change) during the moving quarter November 2020 – January 2021 compared to the period November 2019 – January 2020.

In contrast, the cities with the lowest unemployment rates were:

1. Cartagena: 11.3% (overall activity rate: 56.1%; employment rate: 49.7%; target underemployment rate: 11.1%).

2. Barranquilla: 12.5% ​​(overall activity rate: 60.6%; employment rate: 53.1%; target underemployment rate: 15.2%).

3. Meals: 14.5% (overall activity rate: 64.8%; employment rate: 55.4%; target underemployment rate: 11.6%).

For its part, Florence recorded the best performance with a decrease of 0.6 pp in its unemployment rate compared to the period November 2019 – January 2020.

Regarding informality, in the 23 main cities the informality rate was 50% in January, while in the 13 cities the rate was 48.9%.

In January, we have a more significant impact on the formal sector. Many people who have lost their jobs are recovering them in the informal sector, Oviedo said.

In addition, he noted that the labor market expels people with a lower level of education and people who had many more years of employment, with which the return profiles of such people may be much more geared towards informal economic activities.

Depending on the age group, the largest decreases in the employed population were recorded among women aged 25 to 54 with -644,000 and among men aged 10 to 24 with -248,000. cities and metropolitan areas, women aged 25 to 54 with -417 thousand and men of the same age group with -185 thousand have concentrated the highest proportions of reduction in the number of employed people. All of the above variations were statistically significant.

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