MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Slight increase in Uruguay's unemployment reported

Uruguay created more jobs but even more people were looking for work, the INE found. Photo: Sebastián Astorga

According to a report from Uruguay's National Statistics Institute (INE) released in Montevideo Wednesday, unemployment in the South American country stood at 8.4% of the economically active population in August, which represented a slight setback from July's 8.3%.

In June it had been 8.1%. The INE also found that among those who worked, 9.2% were underemployed (they worked less than 40 hours per week but would like to work more) and 21.2% were not registered in social security. The INE's unemployment rate was tantamount to 158,700 people actively looking for work nationwide.

However, in Montevideo alone, only 7.7% of people were in that condition which affected 8.8% of the population in the rest of the country.

Although some 32,000 new jobs were created, more people were looking for work, it was explained. The employment rate rose from 58.8% to 59.1% and the activity rate went from 64.2% to 64.5%. In August 2023, unemployment stood at 8.2% of August 2023, when the employment rate was 58.3% and the activity rate was 63.5%.

In July this year, the economic activity rate stood at 64.2%, the employment rate was 58.8% and the unemployment rate was 8.3%.