The labor market recovery continued in February, and this was announced by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane). On one side, the unemployment rate (TD) in the second month of the year stood at 12.9%, which represents a reduction of 2.6 percentage points compared to the indicator registered in the same month last year, when it was 15.5%, and on the other, the occupancy figures also showed a positive outlook, especially for the female population.
(The sectors that contributed the most to reducing unemployment in Colombia).
In February, the number of employed persons improved by 1.5 millionsince in the second month of the year the employed population rose to 21.68 million people, above the 20.16 million registered in the same month of 2021. Of that total, women recovered two out of three jobs , because in the case of women, 1 million of those jobs were recovered, and for men, a total of 515,000 jobs were recovered.
“For every man who got his job back, two women did so between February 2021 and February 2022. Surely among the women most dedicated to domestic work and home care work due to virtual conditions or with the models of flexible learning that had the basic and preschool education especially”, explained the Dane, Juan Daniel Oviedo.
(The unemployment rate in Colombia was 12.9% in February).
Likewise, Oviedo highlighted in view of the figures for the employed population, that “a compensation more than proportional to the loss seen in the previous year” was given, given that between February 2020 and February 2021 more than 1.18 million posts.
“The dynamism is concentrating above all in the main cities of the country and thanks to the return of face-to-face activities, we are seeing dynamics that, for example, women return to look for work and that they are actually finding it”, highlighted Jackeline Piraján, economist at Scotiabank Colpatria.
Unemployment
In the case of the unemployed, it was recorded that 3.21 million people were looking for work, which means that 496,000 who were unemployed in February 2021, when there were a total of 3.70 million unemployed, ceased to be. in February 2022. During the month of February, the national unemployment rate was 12.9%, while in the main 13 cities it was 12.7%, two percentage points below the national total.
There, they were also women who stood out in terms of recovery, since 285,000 of them came out of unemployment, while in the case of men it was 212,000. Despite this, the gap in the labor market continues, because while the male unemployment rate fell from 13.7% in February 2021 to 10.3% this year, the unemployment rate for women fell from 21.7 % to 16.5% by February 2022. That implies a reduction of 3.4 percentage points in the case of men, and 5.2 points in the case of women.
The director of the Colombo-American Chamber of Commerce, AmCham Colombia, María Claudia Lacouture, highlighted how “unemployment levels continue to drop and although the conditions of women continue to be the most affected, we see a constant recovery and a reduction.
On the other hand, on the side of the population outside the labor force, this was estimated at 13.9 million people, which implies that 433,000 people entered the labor force when compared to 2021.
THE SECTORS
The Dane also revealed that in February the sectors that contributed the most to the recovery of jobs were commerce, with 335,000 additional positions, artistic activities, entertainment and recreation, with 282,000 and manufacturing industries, with 242,000.
For María Claudia Llanes, an economist at BBVA Research for Colombia, “by 2022 employment is expected to grow, driven mainly by the service sectors with the greater openness of the economy.”
The economist highlighted that 75% of the jobs recovered are from private companies and 55% from the entertainment, lodging and dining sectors. All of these are among the hardest hit jobs in 2020.
LAURA LUCIA BECERRA ELEJALDE
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