Unemployment in Greater Santiago skyrockets to 12.8% during March

SANTIAGO.- The unemployment rate in Greater Santiago jumped to 12.8% in March according to the Employment and Unemployment Poll generated by the School of Business and Economics at the Universidad de Chile.

The percentage indicated by the poll is equivalent to some 363,900 jobless residents.

Furthermore, the figure marks the first time the unemployment rate has made its way into the double digits since a poll taken in June of 2006, when it reached 10.7%.

The number also indicates a hike of 4 percentage points when compared to the same poll taken during March of 2008, which revealed a rate of 8.8%.

In the previous poll, taken during December, the unemployment rate for the Greater Santiago Area climbed to 9.7%, signifying that 274,600 people were without jobs.

On Thursday of next week, the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (National Statistics Institute) will release the national unemployment rate, which market projections have at around 9%.