Colombia | April: Unemployment rate continued to fall

Summary

Colombia's national unemployment rate in April 2025 was 8.8%, lower than the 10.6% observed a year prior. Seasonally adjusted, the April rate also stood at 8.8%, marking the lowest recorded since 2015.

Key points

• Key points:
• The positive performance of the unemployment rate since September of last year was largely driven by the strong dynamics of employment, which accelerated its growth rate since late 2024.
• In April, unlike previous months, the employment rate (a proxy for labor demand) decreased compared to March. The reduction in the unemployment rate between March and April, despite the lower employment rate, was due to a greater decrease in the labor force participation rate (a proxy for labor supply).
• Since December of last year, employment growth primarily came from non-wage employment, which, similar to total employment, had been accelerating month-on-month annually, but showed a slowdown in April.
• The main driver of employment in April was the public administration, health, and education sector (+235 thousand jobs). Three other sectors continued to make significant contributions to job creation: trade (+132 thousand jobs), industry (+112 thousand jobs), and transportation (+106 thousand jobs).

Geographies

Topics

Tags