Colombia's unemployment rate fell to 10.9% in January 2026, according to Dane, marking a 0.8 percentage point improvement from January 2025. Andi president Bruce Mac Master questioned the one-point drop in informality and noted that job growth was driven by non-salaried positions.
The National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane) released January 2026 labor market data, showing an unemployment rate of 10.9%, a 0.8 percentage point decline from January 2025. Of the 324,000 new jobs created, only 75,000 were salaried positions, indicating that growth was primarily in non-salaried employment.
Bruce Mac Master, president of the Colombian Association of Entrepreneurs (Andi), voiced concerns over high informality levels. He stated: “One of the biggest challenges in the labor market is the high levels of informality. It is not clear how the January results show a one percentage point reduction in informality.” Mac Master also questioned whether the occupancy increase stems from public spending on service provision orders prior to the Guarantees Law, after reviewing results by activity and occupational position.
Despite the lower unemployment rate, labor market participation declined, with 410,000 people becoming economically inactive. The Global Participation Rate stood at 63.6%, and the Occupancy Rate at 56.7%, similar to figures from a year earlier. Overall, Colombia had 23.2 million occupied individuals.
The commerce and vehicle repair sector accounts for 17.2% of workers but lost 149,000 jobs compared to January 2025. In contrast, public administration and defense added 172,000 positions, while professional, scientific, and technical activities gained 155,000 new jobs.
