Women's unemployment rate climbs to 8.1% and reaches its highest level in six years

Amidst a labor market that adapts to a more dynamic economy in terms of growth, the national unemployment rate has been set at 7% during the March mobile quarter -may, without recording any variation in 12 months. According to figures released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the increase of three-tenths of the quarter is up. The annual result was explained because the labor force and employees increased by 2.1%.

From the government, the Minister of Labor, Nicolás Monckeberg, evaluated the figure and said that "this allows us to conclude that confidence in the economy is increasing, which, in the medium term, will generate greater real job opportunities, which will lower the national unemployment rate. "

Despite this, the bad news came from the rate of the female unemployment rate, which reached 8.1%, a record which has not been observed since the mobile quarter of March-May 2012, where the percentage of unemployed women has reached 8.5%. In contrast, the unemployment rate for men fell by 0.2pp, reaching 6.2% in 12 months.

According to UC Clapes researcher Juan Bravo, this could be explained by the increase in women entering the force. the workforce, which is reflected in the labor force participation rate, which "increases quite sharply, standing at 49.3%, which is a record for a quarter of March-May" .

He added a very significant increase in the participation rate of women, the problem is that what increases more strongly, it is more unemployment than employment. "

Indeed, according to the INE, the female labor force has increased by 3.6%.% In 12 months, out of the 3.5% in which employment has During this time, over the past year, women's unemployment increased by 4.7%, adding 303 thousand people.At the same time, women outside the labor force decreased by 0.1% , their sixth consecutive loss At the country level, the unemployed totaled 630 000 people

In the growth of the female labor force, job-seekers stand out for the first time , which increases by 16.9%, which according to Bravo the positive part, but the negative part is that the job market does not absorb it with the same enthusiasm as women enter. "

Per slice From age, the 15-24 age group was where the largest gap is observed. according to the unemployment rate, reaching 20.7% for women against 15.6% for men

Own account

With a higher female unemployment rate, figures for the quarter Mobile from March-May brought back as a leader in creating own-account jobs.

The category that had been moved by public employees in the previous survey, increased for the third consecutive month, reaching an increase of 5.1% annually and converting the highest figure since the July-September quarter of the year. 39, last year, where it grew 6.6%. By workplace badysis, workers who engaged in street or public road activities reached 398,876 between March and May. which represents an advance of 3% compared to the previous quarter, being indicated as the main reason for the growth of the category of the own account according to the INE.

Behind the Own Accounts, Public Employees Recorded the Second Highest Impact The total number of employed persons increased 6.7% in 12 months, a deceleration from the previous quarter in which they were increased by 9.1%.

Finally, private employees only grew by 0.6% in 12 months adding 30,363 jobs, a situation that, for Bravo, "is not powerful enough, since even this greater growth is not noticeable in this indicator, "stating that this is delayed and that" we are still in a According to the BBVA, the INE data show that "l & # 39; employment continues to hold steady in the increasingly shrinking creation of paid employment, all the more so as public employment starts to lose in importance and as private employees are not At the same time, there is a renewed dynamism of the accounts, especially in the professional activities and transport sectors, which make it possible to avoid a greater correction of total employment. "[19659002] The INE also reported that the rate of informality of work remained at 28.8%. Women employed informally increased by 0.1%.