Unemployment in Colombia was 20.2% in July: Dane

The unemployment rate in Colombia in the month of July was 20.2%, a rate higher by 9.5 points than the one registered in July 2019, when it was 10.7%.

The biggest drop in employment was registered in the thirteen main urban areas of the country, where it already reaches 24.7 percent, fourteen points more than that registered in the same month last year.

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According to the director of Dane, Juan Daniel Oviedo, the figures show, however, a fall in the percentage of the employed population that is much less marked than in April.

While that month, the number of people who stopped being employed in relation to the same month of last year was 5.4 million people, in July it was 4.1 million people.

The data reaffirms a trend that has been registered since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the increase in the gender gap in unemployment.

Female unemployment is at 26.2%, 10 points above male unemployment, which is at 16.2%. Youth unemployment is also above average, at 29.7%.

According to Oviedo, three-quarters of the contraction of the employed population is centered on four activities: trade and vehicle repair, which was the one that fell the most, and later, artistic and service activities, accommodation and food services and manufacturing industries.

The figures also show that the companies that have been most affected are those with fewer than 10 employees: 60% of the jobs lost were in this type of company, while in urban centers they are equivalent to two thirds of the total.

By cities, the highest unemployment is registered in Neiva (37.4%) and the lowest in Barranquilla (14.1%). Above the national average are, among others, Ibagué (35.5%), Cúcuta (31.7%), Cali (28.2%) and Bogotá (25.2%). Below, Medellín (24.7%), Bucaramanga (23.1%) and Cartagena (20.5%).

In terms of informal work, Cúcuta is the city with the highest rate, with 67.7%, followed by Sincelejo, with 63.3%. The lowest is registered in Manizales, with 37.7%.