Colombia | Effects of COVID-19 on July employment

In July, the pace of job creation moderated and the number of unemployed fell, reflecting the lack of dynamism in the labor force. As a result, the national unemployment rate fell from 20.8% to 19.8% between June and July.

Key points

• Key points:
• At the urban level, a more dynamic labor force and an increase in the number of unemployed were observed, which pushed the unemployment rate up to 24.9% in July.
• By the end of July (between February and July), the COVID-19 has left a loss of 4.2 million jobs, an increase of 1.8 million unemployed, an increase of 2.5 million labor inactive people and an increase of 9 percentage points in the unemployment rate.
• The sectors that contributed the most to the drop in employment were retail, entertainment-related activities, accommodation and food and industry. Some recovery in sectoral employment is beginning to be observed, clearly in construction and industry.
• The occupational positions most affected by the COVID-19 are domestic service and salaried employment in private companies. The positions with the greatest recovery in the last quarter available are those of domestic employment and self-employment.
• In a prospective way, we consider that as of September, the greater opening of the economy can once again give more dynamism to employment, both at the a urban level and at the national level.

Authors

Geographies

Topics

Tags