Colombia | Unemployment rate fell between October and November, but employment declined

In November, the national unemployment rate in its original series stood at 10.8% and the urban rate at 12.2%, lower than the same month in 2020, but still higher than in 2019. The national unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, decreased, with respect to October, as did employment and the labor force.

Key points

• Key points:
• With seasonally adjusted data for each month, between October and November 2021, the national unemployment rate decreased by two tenths and the urban rate increased by two tenths, while employment decreased in both cases: by 0.6% at the national level and by 1.8% at the urban level.
• The lag in the recovery of employment relative to activity continues. As of November, national employment was 95.5% of its pre-pandemic level (February 2020) and urban employment was 94.3%, compared to 96% in October 2021. On the other hand, activity exceeded its pre-pandemic level as of July and as of October was at 102.6% of its February 2020 level.
• The recovery in women's employment has been even slower. As of November 2021, female employment was 7.0% below its pre-pandemic level while that of men was 2.6% below.
• The recovery of salaried employment has been slower than that of non-salaried employment and, therefore, the share of non-salaried workers in total employment has increased from 56.4% in February 2020 to 57.8% in November 2021. At the urban level, these percentages were 44.8% and 46.1% in February 2020 and November 2021, respectively.
• We expect employment to return to growth going forward, driven by increased capacity, higher attendance in education and public administration sectors, among others, and the government's employment support policies. The gradual recovery of employment will also depend on the progress of the pandemic and the care strategy implemented.

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