In the second quarter of 2022, the employment rate in Latin America and the Caribbean’s economies reached the level seen prior to the pandemic.
As a result the unemployment rate declined by 2.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2021, reaching 7.3 per cent, a figure that is actually below pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report released by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The publication titled, “Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Labour productivity in Latin America” also noted that similarly, there were improvements in the labour participation rate, although it is still below the level recorded prior to the health crisis.
According to the report these positive trends are stronger among women, who were especially affected during the pandemic and whose recovery was slower than that of men in 2021.
“Indeed, although in the first half of 2022, the unemployment rate fell for both men and women (by 2.3 and 3.4 per cent respectively), the decline was much sharper in the case of women, resulting in a narrowing of the unemployment gap, which went from a ratio of 1.5 to 1.4 between the first half of 2021 and the same period of 2022,” it explained.
The report also noted that since the first half of 2022, wage employment has increased more than ‘own-account work’ and the manufacturing sector has shown the highest rate of job creation.
However, it also added that average real wages have fallen due to the significant increase in inflation in the first half of this year.
In addition to confronting the difficulties posed by the current labour market situation, the region’s economies face the challenge of reversing the low growth in productivity and investment that has been registered since the debt crisis.
The report advised the creation of more well-paid, formal jobs is necessary to raise the level of ambition of productive development policies, taking into account new policy approaches and the new realities associated with the technological revolution and the new productive paradigms it is generating.