The government has celebrated the reduction in the number of people who are receiving unemployment benefits, popularly known as unemployment insurance. The Minister of Labor and Social Security, Paul Mierespraised a supposed “economic recovery”.
But the reality is different: the decrease in the number of workers covered by unemployment insurance is due to the fact that the majority were laid off.
“We have very good news. Obviously, it is a measurement of a month. You have to keep looking at the data to see how it comes. Since the beginning of 2023 we have been having a tendency to reduce the number of workers in unemployment insurance, and in April there is a significant reduction ”, assessed the minister Pablo Mieres at a press conference.
Workers in unemployment insurance were reduced, but it is not good news
According to the MTSS, 13,289 people stopped receiving unemployment benefits, of which 37% were reinstated to their job, and 63% because they were fired.
Other not so positive news was the admission of 8,624 new workers to the insurance: 58.2% under the cause of dismissal and 41.8% due to reduction or temporary suspension.
Regarding the sectors covered in the report, the strongest reductions occurred in the agricultural sector, forestation and fishing with 3,130 fewer workers, industry with 1,470 workers and health with 477 fewer workers.
In the other direction, the commerce sector shows an increase of 534 workers in unemployment insurance.