MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Unemployment in Santiago de Chile “Has Eased” but Stands at 10.8%

Chilean unions are preparing for a big rally and march on May first

The University of Chile reported Monday a Santiago unemployment rate of 10.8%. While this is higher than what it was before the international recession (when it stood at around 8%), it is two percentage points less than what it was in March of 2009.

Government spokesman Camila Merino told La Nacion that “unemployment has eased off when compared with March of last year, and has stayed at the same level since December, despite the fact that in March it tends to rise due to seasonal factors. The economic recuperation is helping us, although there still remains much to do, above all in regards to the consequences of the earthquake.”

This improvement, however, cannot be applied to the country as a whole. Chile’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) has looked at the bigger picture and, although the results will not officially be released until Friday, a significant rise in Chile’s unemployment is expected. The government estimates that we will see a rise from 8.5% in the December – February period to over 10% in March, with February’s 8.8 scale earthquake to blame. The earthquake has had a significant effect on productive activity in the country’s 6th, 7th, 8th Regions, where 20% of Chile’s workforce resides.

Government spokesman Marcelo Soto told La Tercera that the government will have to work twice as hard to get the employment figures back to where they were before the earthquake hit. He also said that the government was fine tuning a legal proposal which would deal with labour flexibility and a law which would regulate firings permitted under the “force majeure” labour law, which allows the dismissal of workers when a natural catastrophe occurs. Many employers reportedly used the “force majeure” rubric after the February 27 earthquake to rid themselves of unwanted employees, even though the quake had no impact on their business.

The unemployment figures come at an interesting time, as May 1 is celebrated in Chile as the Day of the Worker, an official public holiday. The nation’s strongest union federation, the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), plans to use the occasion to push the agenda of Chile’s workers, most importantly to demand a minimum wage increase from 165.000 pesos a month (approx. 320 US dollars) to 181.000 pesos (approx. 350 US dollars).

By Alia Alhafny – Santiago Times