Colombia | Effects of covid-19 on employment in January 2021

In January, mobility restrictions temporarily interrupted the employment recovery. As of January, 73% of the jobs lost at the time of the worst deterioration of the labor market had been recovered. Given the easing of restrictive mobility measures, the labor market is expected to return to dynamism from February of 2021.

Key points

• Key points:
• The national unemployment rate increased in January with respect to December, but the urban unemployment rate did not, reflecting the heterogeneous behavior of the labor market during the month. The national unemployment rate was 17.3% in January and the urban unemployment rate was 19.5%.
• Labor market behavior was heterogeneous across cities and economic sectors, associated with mobility restriction decisions.
• Bogotá, Medellín, Bucaramanga and Barranquilla were negatively affected in terms of employment by the mobility restrictions at the end of December and in January, as were the manufacturing industry and artistic activities.
• The deterioration in the quality of the labor market continued in January, with a slight increase in non-wage (informal) employment in total employment.
• Going forward, with the relaxation of mobility restrictions, total employment is expected to return to its recovery path, but with a faster recovery in non-wage employment than in wage and salary employment.

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