Colombia | In September, the labor market continued to improve but at a slower pace

Summary

In September, the unemployment rate was 12.1%, lower than in September 2020, but higher than in the same month of 2019. Between August and September 2021, with comparable data, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 p.p..

Key points

• Key points:
• The lag in the recovery of employment with respect to activity continues. As of September, national employment stood at 96.9% of its pre-pandemic level (February 2020) and urban employment at 95.1%, while activity has exceeded 100% since July. The recovery of women's employment has been even slower, with women's employment in September 2021 being 5.7% below its pre-pandemic level, while that of men is 0.9% below.
• September saw a significant increase in weekly hours worked by employed persons of more than two hours over August 2021 and more than one hour over September 2019, which may be anticipating new hires.
• The share of non-salaried employment in total employment remained at relatively high levels in September, at 57.5%, after lower levels were observed at mid-year. As of September 2021, a recomposition of employment between self-employed and private salaried workers is observed.
• During the remainder of the year, employment will continue to grow, but at a slower pace than that observed in the third quarter of the year, since the processes of sectorial openness, and the return to more generalized attendance in education, among others, have already advanced and their effect on employment, at the margin, may be less than that already observed.

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