The balance that is made on the employment numbers “is very positive,” said the Minister of Labor and Social Security (MTSS), Pablo Mires this Thursday. “The year 2022 closed with better data than, even, compared to times prior to the pandemic in all areas,” the minister developed.
On January 24, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) published the employment and unemployment data, corresponding to 2022.
Unemployment closed 2022 at 7.9%, slightly higher than in November (7.8%) and with almost one percentage point more than in December 2021 when it had stood at 7%. December ended with 144,500 unemployed.
The employment rate was 57.7%, with a minimal difference compared to the previous month (57.5%) and also with a slight variation in the interannual relationship to December 2021 when it was 57.2%. The year-end figure is equivalent to 1,682,000 employed persons.
Mieres highlighted the drop in unemployment and compared the 2022 figure with that of 2019, the year before the coronavirus pandemic. 2019 marked the worst unemployment number on record since 2007when unemployment affected 8.9% of the economically active population.
“Between the year 2021-2022, 91,000 new jobs were created, after having lost 60,000 in 2020; we recovered 30,000 more,” said the leader of the Independent Party.
“Are we satisfied? No. We must continue working and improving,” explained Mieres, who also highlighted the rise in employment formality. “Historically, Uruguay had 25% informality, now we are at 20%,” added the chief.
“We had a powerful job recovery process,” said Mieres. “There are people who continue to have difficulties; there are people who are looking for and cannot get a job; we continue with great inequalities, young people have an unemployment rate three times higher than the general average,” Mieres elaborated.
MTSS extended space insurance for workers affected by the Punta Shopping fire
The MTSS extended the special unemployment insurance that was granted to Punta Shopping workers, after the fire that devastated the commercial area in August 2022.
In principle, the special insurance was valid for six monthsbut, days before the expiration of the term, the Ministry of Labor decided to extend the term for another six months for those employees who had not yet been able to relocate or find work.
“A significant number of the workers, who belonged to the supermarket sector, were already able to reactivate with the reopening of the English Store location,” where, it was later found, that it was in the bakery where the fire came from.
“What we do is, just like we did in the pandemic, extend a protection network for workers,” Mieres said.
