Colombia’s unemployment rate reached 10% in June compared to 10.9% in the same month last year, Colombia’s national statistics agency DANE announced Tuesday.
This was the lowest unemployment rate registered during that particular month since 2001, according to DANE.
In June, 21.2 million people had some kind of occupation, which was an increase of 1.3 million people compared to the same period last year.
In Colombia’s 13 metropolitan areas the rate of unemployment stood at 11.3% in June 2012, compared to 11.8% in the same month last year.
The city with the highest unemployment rate was Quibdo, the capital of Colombia’s deprived western Choco department, with 18,5% of the population out of work. Other cities with high unemployment rates were the southwestern city of Popayan (17,9%) and Cucuta, the capital of Colombia’s northern Norte de Santander department, with 16,4%.
The lowest rates were registered in the northern coastal cities of Barranquilla (8.6%), Santa Marta (8,6%) and Cartagena (9,5%).
According to DANE, commerce, restaurants and hotels occupied the largest parts of the workforce in June.