MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Slight increase in unemployment, Uruguayan statistics bureau reports

The overall unemployment rate reached its highest level in recent years in September 2020 (11%) amid COVID-19 pandemic restrictions

Unemployment in Uruguay has grown from 8.1% in May to 8.4% in June, according to a National Statistics Institute (INE) report on Activity, Employment and Unemployment released Thursday.

In practical terms, the study meant that 150,500 Uruguayans were unemployed and that the trend remained upwards after finishing 2021 at 7.0%.

The document also showed a slight increase in economic activity, from 61.7% to 61.8%, while the employment rate remained unchanged from the previous month: 56.7%.

The report also pointed out that 8.5% of Uruguayans were deemed as underemployed, while those with no social security registration amounted to 20.4%.

The INE study also pointed out that the highest unemployment rates were recorded in Soriano (11%, or 4,600 people), Río Negro (10.6%, or 2,900 people), and Salto (13.1%, or 8,700 people), while Maldonado showed the most encouraging figures, with only 3.1% unemployment.

Regarding labor informality, the worst rates were in Rivera (40.4%), followed by Soriano (34.8%) and Artigas (34.6%).

The overall unemployment rate reached its highest level in recent years in September 2020 (11%) amid COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. From there it dropped to 7% in December last year. The employment rate was at its lowest in April 2020 (52.1%) and then it bounced back to 58.3% last December.