The labor market continued to recover in January if we compare it with last year; however, it is deteriorating month by month. According to him DanishThe unemployment rate was 13.7 percent in the first month of 2023, 0.9 percentage points less than the same period of the previous year (14.6 percent).
However, when reviewing the seasonally adjusted rate, —the one that allows month-to-month comparisons—, it stood at 11.4 percent, higher than the 11.2 percent in December and the 10.9 percent in November.
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Sergio Olarte, Scotiabank Colpatria’s chief economist, highlighted that the norms in January are months where unemployment rises a lot because after December all temporary jobs stop being there and there is a recomposition in the new projects of each one of the companies. He also said that if we compare it with December of last year, we see that employment is deteriorating.
«This is in keeping with a normal slowdown in consumption that we are already seeing, on the other hand, the Dane is telling us about lower retail sales and lower industrial production. This is what is called a soft landing for the economy where high interest rates and high inflation are taking their toll on household consumption, consumption that had been very dynamic,” Olarte explained.
Likewise, from the Anif think tank, he said that the weak state of the labor market does not allow employment to grow, since there is no properly trained job offer to satisfy the demand for jobs.
By sex, while the unemployment rate for men was 11 percent (-0.2 points less than a year ago), that for women was 17.4 percent (-2 points less), it is In other words, the gap is still 6.4 points.
Five sectors lose jobs
total, the employed population of the country reached 21.49 million in January, which means that there were 796,000 more jobs than in the same period of the previous year, when the data was 20.69 million. Of this total, most of the jobs recovered were held by women (476,000) as opposed to men (320,000).
The greatest recovery of employment in January 2023 occurred in the branch of accommodation and food serviceswhich hired more than 336,000 new people in the first month of 2023 until it had 1.5 million jobs.
The rest of the sectors that led the recovery were professional, scientific, technical and service activities (+208,000 jobs), artistic and entertainment activities (+205,000), manufacturing industries (+201,000) and transport and storage ( +191,000).
The greatest recovery occurred in the accommodation and food services branch, which hired more than 336,000 new people in the first month of 2023, reaching 1.5 million jobs.
Other branches that had lower contracting in January were real estate activities (+62,000) and vehicle trade and repair (-10,000).
On the other hand, five of the 13 branches measured by the Dane lost workers. The one that was the most public administration and defense, education and human health care (-214,000). María Claudia Llanes, BBVA Research economist for Colombia, says that this fall could have been partly explained by a high level of employment in that sector in January 2022, the last month before the restriction on direct hiring began before the 2022 presidential election.
The construction sector (-148,000), financial and insurance activities (-68,000), the supply of electricity, gas, water and waste management (-11,000) and agriculture (-6,000) also lost workers.
«In this 2023 we believe that the annual job creation will continue to slow down, in line with the slowdown in activity and by the end of the year the number of employed persons will remain relatively stable compared to the end of 2022,» said Llanes.
According to occupational position, the number of employed individuals increased by 956,000 compared to the same month of the previous year; instead, there was a drop of 110,000 employed in the day laborer or pawn position.
more unemployed
Meanwhile, in January, the number of unemployed was 3.41 millionthat is, there were 139,000 fewer people in this situation compared to the same period in 2022, when the data reached 3.55 million.
By sex, according to the statistical entity, the reduction in the unemployed population in January 2023 for the national total occurred in women (-147,000), while there was an increase in men (8,000).
According to the age ranges, the decrease in women was focused on the group of 25 to 54 years (-136,000) and the increase in unemployed men in the age range of 25 to 54 years (30,000).
for his partthe inactive population or that is outside the labor force It was 14.38 million people in December, which meant a drop of 115,000 compared to the figure of 14.5 million for the same period of the previous year.
By sex, the greatest variation in the population outside the labor force in January 2023 for the national total was in women aged 15 to 24 (-78,000) and in men (-56,000).
According to the type of activity carried out, Dane reported that the greatest variation in the population outside the labor force in the first month of the year was in household chores with -400,000, of which -191,000 were women and -209,000 they were men.