MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Magallanes remains Chilean region with lowest unemployment

Unemployment in Magallanes Region, extreme south of Chile remained virtually unchanged during the May-July quarter and the lowest in the country, 2.5%.

According to the latest release from the Chilean National Statistics Office, INE, the 2.5% of May-July 2008 represents a slight 0.1% increase over the same period a year ago and 0.3% over the previous mobile quarter April-June Unemployment in Punta Arenas was the lowest of the region with 1.8%, but the other main urban locations of Magallanes, Porvenir and Puerto Natales recorded 8.6% and 6.4% respectively. The labor force in Magallanes during the May-July quarter was 66.400 people according to INE, which represents a 1.1% increase (730 people) over the same period a year ago. But compared with the previous 2008 quarter there was virtually no change. The 66.400 figure is made up of 64.750 with jobs and 1.650 unemployed. Magallanes region compares most favorably with the rest of Chile, which averaged 8.4% in the May-July quarter, which is 1.4 percentage points higher than the same period a year ago.