Unemployment in Costa Rica maintains the downward trend shown in recent months and by November 2021 it stood at 14.4%, the state National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) reported this past Wednesday.
The INEC Continuous Employment Survey indicates that for the quarter that includes September, October and November 2021, unemployment was 14.4% (equivalent to 351,000 people), lower than the 15% registered in the quarter of August, September and October of that year.
The unemployment rate in the male population was estimated at 12.2% and the female at 17.8%. The total of unemployed people said that they have had some work incidence due to the pandemic. 97% of these people say that they cannot get a job due to Covid-19, and 3% said that they were fired, suspended or closed their business or activity.
Costa Rica reached a maximum of 24% unemployment in mid-2020 amid the effects of the covid-19 pandemic. For its part, informal employment grew from 43.9% to 44.8% between both measurements, and underemployment went from 12.2% to 13.2%.
«The national employed population was 2.08 million people; it is made up of 1.28 million men and 801,000 women. In total, the employed population increased significantly by 178 thousand people (compared to the quarter of September, October and November 2020) », details the INEC report. Of the total number of employed persons, about 1.5 million are salaried (72.4%) and 550,000 are independent (26.4%).
All work activities effects are still observed as a result of the health emergency
“When analyzing the occupation by each economic activity, it is evident that in practically all work activities effects are still observed due to the measures and policies taken as a result of the health emergency in the face of the pandemic. However, in this quarter, September-October-November 2021, the employment incidence is higher in the transport and storage sector, construction and in hotels and restaurants”, says the report.
