The National Institute of Statistics reported that the unemployment rate reached 9.1 percent in the February-April 2026 quarter. The figure marks a 0.3 percentage point rise over twelve months and is the highest since the April-June 2021 quarter.
INE figures show the labor force grew 1.0 percent while employed persons rose only 0.7 percent. The number of unemployed people increased 4.1 percent over the period. The situation is worse for women. The female unemployment rate reached 10.5 percent, an increase of 0.8 percentage points in twelve months. Youth female unemployment hit 28 percent in the same quarter, the highest figure since mid-2020. A Clapes-UC analysis by economist Carmen Cifuentes indicates female employment grew by 61 thousand people in the last twelve months, yet the female labor force expanded by 94 thousand. This produced 43 thousand additional unemployed women. The government convened the Labor Reactivation Roundtable, made up of nine experts, to address the so-called labor emergency. Members include David Bravo and Benjamín Villena.
