Unemployment Rate Reaches Double Digits

• In July 2020, the unemployment rate was 12.6%, 4.8 percentage points higher than in July 2019. There was an increase in the number of persons unemployed (54,600) and persons outside the labor force (80,600).
• The Employed Labour Force had 135,800 fewer persons in July 2020 compared to July 2019 resulting in a total of 1,118,300 persons. Males accounted for a little over one-half of the decline.
• The largest decline for males was in the occupation groups ‘Elementary Occupations’ and ‘Crafts and Related Trades Workers’, while for females it was ‘Service Workers and Shop and Market Sales Workers’ and ‘Elementary Occupations’.
• Overall, the number of persons in the Labour Force was 1,279,600, a decline of 81,200 (6.0%) when compared with the 1,360,800 recorded in July 2019. The male labor force decreased by 35,300 (4.8%) to 700,600 in July 2020, and the female labor force decreased by 45,900 (7.3%) to 579,000.

(Source: STATIN)