Publications

National employment grows, mainly driven by non-wage employment (+8% annually in March). Of 1.1M jobs created, most are independent and informal, raising the informality rate to 57.2%. The challenge is to formalize this employment to improve conditions and reduce poverty.

The national unemployment rate for March 2025 was 9.6% and the seasonally adjusted rate was 9.1% marking the third consecutive monthly decrease and placing it more than one percentage point below its 2024 average. This positive performance in the unemployment rate is mainly attributed to the strong dynamics of employment.

The growth of employment, and consequently the low levels of unemployment, have made it possible to increase the total wage bill, which is currently 3.0% above the pre-pandemic level; however, this gain has been due to the generation of low-paid jobs and the loss of employment of more than 2 Minimum Wages (MW)

The generation of low-paid jobs characterizes the recovery of the labor market. Despite the high inflation levels, real wages and the wage bill maintain positive growth. We expect formal employment to continue posting favorable year-on-year growth rates but with a more moderate increase.

In 9 out of 10 households, there was a fall in labor income. The lag in the labor market's recovery prevails, with high levels of unemployment, underemployment and informality, and a slow creation of formal employment.