2.7 million Colombians were unemployed in February 2010, with the national unemployment rate reaching 12.6%, a 0.1% increase from the same month in 2009, Colombia’s national statistics agency DANE reports.
These statistics equate to an increase of almost 500,000 more Colombians unemployed in February 2010 than in February 2009.
In the period from December 2009 to the end of February 2010, unemployment reached 12.8%, in comparison with 12.4% in the same trimestre one year prior.
In the December 2009 to February 2010 trimestre, the area of retail, restaurants and hotels was the sector that provided the most jobs, occupying 27.1% of the total Colombian workforce.
The central city of Pereira recorded Colombia’s highest February unemployment rate at 21.4%, while the coastal city of Barranquilla recorded the lowest, with 9.2%.
