MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Punta Arenas unemployment remains the lowest in Chile

Unemployment in the region of Magallanes, extreme south of Chile increased from 2.2 to 3.2% in the December-February quarter compared to the same period a year ago according to the latest release from the Chilean Statistics Office.

Nevertheless Magallanes, and its capital Punta Arenas remain as the region with the lowest jobless rate in Chile with only 2.130 reported unemployed which is 670 more than a year ago.

Chile’s unemployment climbed to 8.4% in the Dec-Feb quarter which is 1.2 percentage points higher than the same period a year ago and 0.5 percentage point over the previous quarter.

In the three main urban areas of Magallanes region unemployment reached 1.7% in Punta Arenas; 4.1% in Puerto Natales and 2.9% in Porvenir.

Jose Gabriel Parada head of the regional Statistics Office said that women’s unemployment actually was down 0.9 percentage points to 2.5% compared to the previous quarter mainly because of seasonal retail hiring in summer months linked to holidays and the beginning of the school year.

The Magallanes work force reached 67.310, up 2.6% compared to the same period a year ago, and 3% over the previous quarter. The three sectors which most lost jobs were: finance (190); construction (530) and mines and quarries (1.100).

At national level the sectors of the economy which have most suffered are agriculture, construction, public utilities (energy, gas and water), retail and mining.