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SANTIAGO, Chile, CMC – Two United Nations agencies say the unfavorable evolution of the economy in Latin America and the Caribbean during the second half of 2014 will not prevent regional urban unemployment from decreasing slightly this year.
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) in a joint report are predicting declines to six or 6.1 percent from the 6.2 percent recorded in 2013.
The report indicates that while a regional rebound in job creation is not foreseen in 2014, a lower rate of labour market participation – which is to say, the proportion of the working-age population inside the labor force, whether employed or unemployed – should enable unemployment to fall.
In the document, the United Nations organizations analyze the employment situation during the first half of the year and explain the mechanisms that have helped reduce inequality in the region’s earned incomes in the last decade.
According to the report, even though country data shows a high degree of heterogeneity, the employment rate at a regional level – meaning the number of employed people versus the total working-age population – continued the decline it had initiated in 2013 during the first half of this year.
“Considering these circumstances, and as paradoxical as it may seem, the decline in the unemployment rate is not entirely positive news… The fall in labour force participation that is behind the decreasing unemployment has an impact on the economic autonomy of a growing proportion of the population, especially women,” said Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s executive secretary, and Elizabeth Tinoco, ILO’s Regional Director.
Despite the current stagnation, the overall assessment of the region’s labour markets during recent years is positive, according to the report.
Between 2009 and 2013, the report states formal jobs grew 12.7 percent, 53.4 percent of total employment, while informal jobs grew just 2.6 percent or 46.6 percent of total employment.
