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Original article: La pega no alcanza: desempleo en la Región Metropolitana llega a 9,7% y supera el promedio nacional

While Chile recorded an unemployment rate of 9.1 during the February-April 2026 quarter, the Metropolitan Region reported 9.7%, based on the latest data provided by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) through the National Employment Survey. The 0.6 percentage point gap over the national average indicates that the capital’s labor market faces greater challenges in absorbing the workforce, amidst signs of stagnation in job creation across the country.

Nationally, the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points over the past year, driven by a 1.0% increase in the labor force that outpaced the growth of employed individuals (0.7%). This reveals that more people are entering the job market, but not all have succeeded in finding employment. In fact, the number of unemployed has increased by 4.1%, particularly among the laid-off (3.3%) and first-time job seekers (11.6%), who exerted the most pressure on the statistics.

The participation rate reached 62.3% while the employment rate remained at 56.7%, with no annual variation. Meanwhile, the population outside the labor force grew by 0.7%, influenced by those who are potentially active (2.1%) and the usual inactive population (0.3%).

Women Bear the Brunt of Unemployment

According to data from the INE, women are the most affected, with their unemployment rate reaching 10.5%, an increase of 0.8 percentage points over the year. Although the female workforce grew by 2.1%, employed women only increased by 1.3%, leading to a surplus of unemployed women, which surged by 10.1%, primarily affected by those laid off (10.2%) and women seeking jobs for the first time (8.7%).

In contrast, men saw improvements in their situation: male unemployment fell to 8.0%, with a reduction of 1.3% in the number of unemployed, influenced solely by layoffs (-2.9%).

Rising Informality in Employment

Labor informality continues to rise. The informal employment rate stood at 26.8% nationally, one percentage point higher than a year ago. Women recorded an informal employment rate of 28.6% compared to 25.4% for men.

The number of informal workers increased by 4.5%, affecting both women (6.1%) and men (3.1%). The sectors that contributed most to this scenario were commerce (7.7%) and manufacturing (16.1%), while private wage earners (8.8%) and self-employed workers (1.3%) led the increases by category.

Another concerning indicator is the decline in work volume. Actual hours worked fell by 0.2% over twelve months, and the average weekly hours decreased to 36.2. On average, men work 38.5 hours while women work 33.1.

Unemployment in the Metropolitan Region Climbs to 9.7%

In the Metropolitan Region, the scenario is even more complex. There, unemployment surged to 9.7%, with a rise of 0.2 points over the year. The employed population barely grew by 0.5%, far below the momentum shown by sectors such as manufacturing (9.1%), professional activities (13.8%), and commerce (2.8%). However, this growth was insufficient to offset the influx of people entering the capital’s labor market. The combination of lower dynamism in formal job creation, high informality, and a continually growing workforce explains why in Santiago, jobs simply aren’t enough.

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