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Original article: La pega no alcanza: desempleo sube, informalidad crece y mujeres cargan la peor parte

In the first quarter of 2026, Chile’s labor market faced a challenging situation marked by increased unemployment and informality, with women being the most impacted. According to the latest data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) through the National Employment Survey (ENE), the unemployment rate reached 8.9% between January and March, reflecting a 0.2 percentage point increase compared to the same period last year.

The INE report indicated that this annual rise is attributed to a 0.7% increase in the labor force, surpassing the 0.5% growth in employment.

Moreover, it was noted that the number of unemployed individuals nationwide increased by 3.3% year-on-year, primarily affecting first-time job seekers, who saw a rise of 14.5%, along with a 2% increase in layoffs.

Simultaneously, participation and employment rates stood at 62.3% and 56.7%, showing slight decreases of 0.1 and 0.3 percentage points, respectively.

Increase in Informality

The situation is further complicated by the rise in labor informality, which encompasses activities conducted without formal contracts, lacking access to social security and pensions, among other things. According to the INE, the informal employment rate climbed to 26.5%, marking a 0.7-point increase over the past twelve months.

For women, this figure reached 27.9%, surpassing the 25.4% for men. The report further states that “informally employed people increased by 3.2% over the past twelve months. By economic sector, the highest incidence occurred in commerce (7.9%) and manufacturing (5.8%); while occupational category changes were influenced by private employees (10.7%) and public employees (12.5%).”

Women’s Unemployment Rate Hits 10.0%

A gender breakdown reveals a much harsher reality for women, as their unemployment rate soared to 10.0%, showing an annual increase of 0.5 points. Meanwhile, the male unemployment rate remained stable at 8.1%, with no change over the past twelve months.

The gender gap is widening rather than closing: while women faced an expansion of the labor force (1.8%) that employment could not absorb, men experienced an overall contraction of (-0.1%) in both employment numbers and labor force.

Additionally, the volume of work measured in actual hours fell by 0.1% year-on-year, with the average number of hours worked dropping to 35.7 per week, revealing a significant disparity between men (38.4 hours) and women (32.2 hours).

The combined unemployment and potential labor force rate—which includes those outside the labor market but available or seeking work—skyrocketed to 17.4%, with women reaching an alarming 20.8%, compared to 14.6% for men, according to the report.

Increase in Unemployment in the Metropolitan Region

The Metropolitan Region is not immune to these trends, as its unemployment rate reached 9.6% with a 0.2-point increase, and the estimate for the total employed population decreased by 0.2%, primarily influenced by sectors such as information and communications (-16.0%), financial and insurance activities (-14.4%), and public administration (-8.6%).

La entrada Job Market Struggles: Unemployment Rises, Informality Grows, and Women Bear the Brunt se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.