In the current scenario of economic crisis, during the mobile quarter from August to October 2020 the unemployment rate at the national level was 21.9%, a proportion similar to the 22% reported from July to September.
The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) reported that for the August, September and October 2020 moving quarter, the population of 15 years old and older with an incidence of labor due to the effect of Covid-19 was 1.13 million people (28.3%). The incidence of labor in the labor force was estimated at 981,000 people (40.8%). A total of 474,000 employed people (25.2%) have some incidence of the pandemic in the workplace. Of the unemployed, 507,000 people (96.3%) were affected in their search for employment. Finally, the labor incidence caused by the emergency affected about 154 thousand people (9.6%) outside the workforce.
The Executive Branch endorsed the new law that allows companies to temporarily reduce the working hours agreed with their employees, in the context of the crisis generated by the covid-19 virus.
On the morning of March 21, the deputies gave the second debate with 47 votes and unanimous approval to file 21854, the law authorizing the reduction of working hours prior to the declaration of a national emergency, reported the Assembly.
Between the third and fourth quarters of 2019, the open unemployment rate in Costa Rica rose from 11.4% to 12.4%, partly because of the increase in women's unemployment.
In a year-on-year comparison, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) report states that the national unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2019 remains unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2018 at 12.4%. By sex, men showed 9.6% and women 16.7%, both rates with no significant year-on-year change.
Between 2018 and 2019, the unemployment rate in the country did not vary significantly, falling by just 0.3% from 2.8% to 2.5%.
Data from the 2019 National Income and Employment Survey (ENEI 1), prepared by the National Statistics Institute (INE), show that at the time of the survey the unemployed population was 179,000, down from 194,000 in the ENEI I of 2018.
With a new methodology, the Banco de Guatemala determined that the value of the informal economy already adds up to the equivalent of 22% of the Gross Domestic Product.
The new calculation used by the Banco de Guatemala (Banguat) to measure national production now includes the measurement of the informal economy, mainly its participation in productive activity.
The Panamanian business sector believes that increasing the minimum wage under current conditions will generate more unemployment and increase informality in the labor market.
With the possibility of an increase in the minimum wage next year, the National Council of Private Enterprise (Conep) insisted that in the context of the economic slowdown, it is not possible to increase workers' pay.
Up to March of this year, the total unemployment rate reached 6.4%, above the 5.8% reported at the end of March 2018.
When analyzing by area, urban showed a 7.2% rate in the third month of 2019, which is higher than that recorded in rural areas, whose rate was 4.2%, reported the General Comptroller of the Republic.
The report states that "... the rate of participation of women in economic activity was lower than that of men. An equally unfavorable condition was reflected in the female unemployment rate, which by March 2019 was 8.2% versus 5.0% observed for men.
During last year, 258,000 work contracts were registered in Panama, 7% less than the 278,000 reported in 2017, and the decline is mainly due to the decrease in temporary contracts.
Data from the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development detail that between 2017 and 2018, the types of indefinite contracts registered a slight decrease, falling from 73,896 to 70,637.
From April to December 2018, the unemployment rate recorded a clear upward trend, rising from 8.7% to 10.2% between the second and third quarters and rising to 12% at the end of the year.
The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) reports that for the fourth quarter of 2018, unemployment increased by 89 thousand people year-on-year, since it was estimated at 294 thousand people, of whom 148 thousand were men and 146 thousand women.
Between January and November last year, 239,000 work contracts were registered in Panama, 6% less than the 254,000 contracts reported during the same period in 2017.
Figures from the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development between the first eleven months of 2017 and the same period in 2018, the indefinite contract types registered a slight decrease, falling from 68,396 to 66,472.
For agricultural businessmen, the proposal to change the minimum wage discussed nationwide jeopardizes the jobs and incomes of about 500,000 people working in agriculture.
Although new jobs will emerge, technological changes will have a strong impact in the Central American region, where there is a high proportion of jobs with a high risk of automation.
According to forecasts made by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in 2018 it was estimated that 75% of workers in Guatemala and El Salvador are in high-risk automationjobs. In Costa Rica the proportion is 68%, in Panama and Nicaragua 65%, and in the Dominican Republic 62%.
Between January and October, 222.000 work contracts were registered in Panama, 4% less than the 232.000 contracts reported during the same period in 2017.
According to figures from the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development, between the first ten months of 2017 and the same period in 2018, the indefinite contracts registered a slight increase, rising from 62,284 to 62,635.
In the third quarter of 2018, the unemployment rate was the same as in the same period of the previous year, at 10.2%, and the percentage of employed people in informal employment was 45%.
The National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) reports that for the third quarter of 2018, the net labor participation rate was 61.1%, increasing 1.7% over the same period last year. The population in the national labor force was 2.38 million people, with a statistically significant increase of 98 thousand people compared to the third quarter of last year.
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