The National Administrative Department of Statistics Dane announced this Friday – August 30 – the results of the labor market in Colombia for the month of July, in which an uneven balance is seen, since there is a slight rebound compared to 2023, but finally this data returned to single-digit reports; while women and young people continue to be the most affected by job losses.
According to the statistical authority, unemployment for the seventh month of the year was 9.9%, which is an increase compared to the 9.6% obtained in the same period last year. However, if one takes into account that in June this indicator was 10.3%, a slight contraction in the figures is on the table.
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Likewise, Andrea Ramírez Pisco, deputy director of Dane, explained that this means that today there are 40.1 million people of working age in the country, of which 23.2 million are part of the employed population (21,000 more than in 2023), and 2.5 million are considered unemployed. (101,000 more than last year), that is, they cannot find work despite looking for it.
Meanwhile, the population outside the labor force, those who are counted as able to work but not seeking employment, was reported by DANE to be 14.3 million after increasing by 455,000 people, which was classified by the entity as a statistically significant variation.
Unemployment in Colombia
“The preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July 2024 “The unemployment rate for the 13 cities and metropolitan areas was 10%, which is a slight drop compared to the previous month, considering that it was 10.6% for June. For the 13 cities and metropolitan areas, the preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10% in July 2024 and 10.1% in June 2024,” the statistics department said.
Women and youth
Within the balance of the labor market, one of the points that drew the most attention was the strong rise in unemployment among young people, who represented almost 25% of the total number of Colombians who entered the ranks of the unemployed population. It should also be noted that women continue to be affected by this rise, since this sector is the one that registers the largest increases.
Proof of this is that in 2023 there were 723,000 people between 15 and 24 years of age who were unemployed even though they were looking for one and this group rose to 748,000 in 2024; which marks a growth of 25,000 citizens. However, the greatest increase in unemployment occurred in the range between 25 and 54 years of age, which rose from 1.49 million last year to 1.56 million today, i.e. 73,000 more.
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However, in the case of women, the situation is more worrying and the idea that they are the main victims of job losses amid the marked slowdown is reaffirmed, since they show negative data in three of the four population groups reviewed by Dane by age and they constitute more than 90% of the jobs lost during the last year.
The proposals include reducing labor costs to boost formal employment and reduce informality.
Explained in a simpler way, while unemployment for men The number of unemployed women fell by 20,000, while the number of unemployed women rose by 121,000. Reviewed by age group, the figures show that there are 29,000 more unemployed women between 15 and 24 years old and 95,000 between 25 and 54 years old. The same figures for men showed falls of 4,000 and 21,000 respectively.
The only generational gap in which male unemployment exceeds that of women is among those aged 55 and over, where it fell by 3,000 for women, while it rose by 5,000 for men. In percentage terms, today 7.7% of men who are looking for work do not find it, while for women this percentage is 12.9%.
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Unemployment by sector
Changing focus, when reviewing the behavior of the labor market by productive sectors, the Dane reported that public administration regained the importance it had acquired in recent months, since it generated 164,000 more jobs compared to the records that were had in 2023. This is followed by manufacturing industries (+67,000), information and communications (+63,000), professional and scientific activities (+60,000) and real estate activities (+45,000).
Meanwhile, confirming the bad times it is experiencing due to the slowdown, construction continues to be one of the sectors of the economy that contributes most to job losses, as the July data shows 1,119,000 fewer jobs than a year ago. The list also includes transport and storage (-113,000), trade (-78,000), public services (-56,000) and financial activities (-27,000).
Informality.
Here it should also be noted that of the 23.2 million Of the Colombians who reported having a job in July, 10.1 million are workers or private employees and 9.6 million are independent or self-employed. On the other hand, 521,000 people are engaged in unpaid family work.
Finally, in the moving year from August 2023 to July 2024, the three cities with the highest unemployment rates were: Arauca with 30.5%, Mocoa with 27.0% and Quibdó with 26.3%. On the other hand, the cities with the lowest unemployment rates were: Leticia with 3.1%, Mitú with 7.0% and Bucaramanga with 8.5%. In the case of Bogotá, unemployment was 9.9%, while in Medellín it was 9% and in Cali it was 11.1%.
Finally, the Dane pointed out that “although they are not statistically significant, decreases in informality rates were reported. labor at the national level and in populated centers and dispersed rural areas in July 2024.”
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