Colombia’s unemployment rate fell to 11.9% in February, according the government statistics agency DANE.
The labor market report for February 2012 also showed that in the three months between December and February the unemployment rate was 11.4%.
Nationally there was a 1 percentage point decrease in total unemployment from the same period the previous year.
According to the survey, the percentage of the population participating in the workforce stands at 64.4%.
The monthly unemployment rate in Colombia’s 13 major metropolitan areas was higher than the national average, at 12.5%.
Quibdo, the capital of western Choco Department had the highest unemployment rate at 18.8%, while the Metropolitan Area of Barranquilla, the capital of Atlantico Department, had only 7.2%. The country’s capital Bogota registered 10.9% unemployment.
