According to the entity, for August, the number of employed persons in the labor market reached 21.7 million people, 1.9 million more than those employed in the same month last year, which were 1 ,6 millions. But if you look further and compare it with the situation prior to the arrival of covid-19, the lag in jobs is already below half a million.
(Read: In July, women found more work than men )
“ Although we have recovered 2 million jobs, we have a gap of 424,000 jobs in the national total to return to observe the occupation levels similar to those of 2019, when we saw 22.1 million of employed persons in the country ”, explained Juan Daniel Oviedo, director of Dane.
(Read: What do women want at work? )
But not only has there been an improvement in employees, August also stood out for the better indicators around the unemployed. In the month the population in this condition was 3.05 million inhabitants, which implied that 914,000 people came out of this situation compared to the same month last year , a reduction in the population 23% unemployed, since in August 2020 the unemployed amounted to $ 3.9 million people.
But despite this good result, if compared with the data of August 2019 , unemployment figures still have an important job to normalize.
“ We need to generate a much more important dynamics of employability for the exit from unemployment of 375,000 more people in the indicators compared to August 2019 ”, mentioned the director of Dane.
On the other hand, in the inactivity figures, in August there was a reduction of 580,000 people in this situation compared to last year, and 15.6 million people were reached as an inactive population. It should be remembered that these are those people outside the labor force: students, rentiers, people dedicated to housework or who after looking for work have given up and are no longer in that process.
Oviedo highlighted that August had the peculiarity of seeing a transit of people who were unemployed, but who became inactive “due to studies, which may be a positive sign of reactivation of the presence of education. ”
However, compared to the comparison prior to the crisis, there is still to be recovered. “ August is the first month in which the evidence of an exit of people from economic inactivity and that they return to the workforce is consolidated, but a gap of 1.1 million citizens still out of the labor force “, considered the director of Dane.
Faced with these indicators, María Claudia Llanes, economist at BBVA Research for Colombia also highlighted that although unemployment rates are still above those observed in August 2019, “ this month national employment was 96.7% of its prepandemic level (February 2020), above the 94.7% observed in July, and the urban 94.4% of its prepandemic level (93.6% in July). With this, in August 2021 employment is closer to its prepandemic level ”.
According to Llanes, if we look at the data for July and August, they show a recovery in employment, confirming the best dynamics expected for the second half of the year.
“ Thus, companies may need to start hiring more employees. In August 2021, the proportion of non-salaried workers in total employment increased, from 56.9% in July 2021 to 57.5% in August 2021 ”, pointed out the analyst.
Women
One of the populations most affected by the pandemic has been women, but August stood out as a month where the trend was reversed and the employment of women recovered more easily.
“ We have gains from women, something we did not see for a long time. For every job that a man regains, there is a greater probability that more than one woman will regain her job. We are in a ratio of almost 1 to 1 ”, highlighted Oviedo.
According to the Dane, of the 2 million jobs that were recovered in August, 1.07 million were held by women, and 916,000 were retaken by the side of men.
Oviedo assured that this impulse “ is associated with specific employability in cleaning, artistic and recreational activities and health and recreation activities “, as well as in commerce , sectors traditionally linked to female hiring.
“ Many of them were economically inactive, engaged in housework, and with the face-to-face return to education and also from various sectors the possibility is opened for them to go out and look for work ”, explained Oviedo.
Despite This maintains the gap: in August the female unemployment rate was 16.4%, while that of men was 9.4%.
Most din sectors Ámicos
In August, the branches of activity that contributed the most to the employed population were those of trade and vehicle repair; professional, scientific, technical and administrative services activities and accommodation and food services with 2.4, 2.2 and 1.6 percentage points, respectively.
“ In commerce we are seeing 466,000 more stalls, where non-specialized retailers, neighborhood stores and small supermarkets stand out. With professional activities there are two fundamental elements: cleaning and maintenance work, due to the return of many companies to the presence, and additionally, engineering and architecture activities ”, explained Oviedo.
Laura Lucía Becerra Elejalde
Twitter: @ LauraB_Elejalde
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