Published on Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Colombia | Employment continues to show strength in April

Summary

The national unemployment rate remained at 8.8% in April 2026, interrupting the downward trend observed since 2025. This result responded to proportional increases in both the employment rate and the overall participation rate. Thus, job creation continued to be dynamic, with an annual growth of 3.0%.

Key points

Key points:
In seasonally adjusted terms, the national unemployment rate stood at 8.7%, slightly higher than the 8.4% recorded a month earlier and close to the average observed in 2025 (8.9%).
Job creation continued to be favorable: wage employment grew by 4.0%, driven exclusively by private companies, while non-wage employment increased by 2.0%. As a result, informality fell from 55.0% to 54.2%.
By branch of activity, job generation was led by public administration, education, and health, followed by construction, artistic and entertainment activities, and professional activities.
Female employment again stood out positively, with a growth of 5.7% compared to 1.0% for men. In addition, job creation was concentrated in the population between 25 and 54 years old, that is, in the working-age population.
From a regional perspective, employment dynamism continued to be led by other urban areas, which contributed 1.5 p.p. to total employment growth (3.0%). However, in April, job creation in the 13 main cities accelerated to 2.3%, contributing 1.1 p.p. to total growth and regaining prominence.