Unemployment at 8.4% for May-July trimester

To see international photos, click here

SANTIAGO.- The National Institute of Statistics (INE) announced today that the unemployment rate for the May-July trimester was 8.4%.

The rate did not register any change when compared to the previous trimester, but indicated a 1.4% increase over the last 12 months stemming from greater expansion in the labor force than in the number of jobs.

The most recent figures indicate that these two variables are synchronized in their growth pattern, with respective increases of 5.1% and 3.6% over the last 12 months - which are the most significant boosts observed so far this year.

The growth of the labor force as well as the number of jobs was reported among men as well as women, although the incidence of females entering the workforce continues to be the most influential trend in global figures. The rate of participation and employment among women has risen 2.7 and 1.6 percentage points respectively over the last 12 months, reaching 40.9% and 36.8%.