Government statistics agency DANE announced Tuesday that unemployment
in Colombia reached 11.7 per cent in May, up 0.9% from the same month
last year.
In May 18.5 million Colombians were employed, while 2.4 million were unemployed — 300,000 more people than in May 2008.
Pereira was the city with highest unemployment levels at 20.7 percent. Ibague followed with 18.2 per cent and then Pasto with 17.4.
Unemployment in Bogota fell to 11.6 per cent and in Medellin from 18 to 15 per cent.
Bucaramanga had the lowest unemployment level at 8.8 per cent.
Overall unemployment in metropolitan areas rose from 11.7 per cent in May 2008 to 12.4 per cent in May 2009
These latest figures follow DANE’s announcement last Thursday that Colombia is officially in recession.
Some analysts estimate that employment will rise to almost 14 per cent by the end of 2009, Portafolio.com.co reported Tuesday.