Colombia’s unemployment rates fell in August from the same month last year, the government’s statistics agency said on Friday.
The urban unemployment rate in the Andean nation, based on surveys in Colombia’s 13 biggest cities, went down to 10.4 percent in August versus 12.2 percent in August 2010.
Colombia’s urban rate is more closely watched by financial markets than the national figure because close to 70 percent of the country’s workforce is in large cities.
The national unemployment rate decreased to 10.1 percent in August from 11.2 percent in the same month in 2010, the DANE statistics agency said.
The jobless figures are not seasonally adjusted and can be volatile, depending on factors like peak shopping and vacation months when retail and tourism employment generally rises.
In July, urban unemployment was 11.3 percent and national unemployment was 11.6 percent.
Colombia has made a strong recovery from the global economic crisis, garnered three investment-grade credit ratings so far this year, and continued to reap strong inflows in the mining and oil sectors.