Unemployment reaches 7.6% for January-March trimester, in line with market forecasts

SANTIAGO. -  According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), the unemployment rate reached 7.6% for the 2008 January-March trimester-a figure in line with market estimates.

The unemployment rate for the trimester registered an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous trimester and 0.9 points over the last 12 months.

According to the INE, the yearly comparison indicates that the most significant growth is within the labor force (3.7%) compared to employment (2.8%), although both are lower than what has been reported by previous measurements.

The rate of expansion of the labor force over the last twelve months reported the lowest increase among those searching for their first job – a sector that had been reporting significant growth over the last two trimesters.  Nevertheless, the organization explained that the dynamic nature of the labor force continues to be boosted by women, principally by those 25-29 and 50-54 years of age.