Unemployment shows no respite in Chile. The unemployment rate in the South American country has risen to 9.5% in the May-July 2026 quarter, the highest figure since June 2021, when it also reached 9.5% during the height of the pandemic. The record, published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), shows an increase of 0.8 percentage points in 12 months. The government of José Antonio Kast has admitted that there are still pending issues to overcome the severe labor crisis affecting the Chilean market, although it has highlighted some measures taken in the Employment Mode plan promoted by the Ministry of Economy.
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details that the increase in unemployment is explained by the rise in the labor force, which increased by 0.7%; and the reduction presented by employed persons, which fell by 0.2%. Meanwhile, unemployed persons increased by 10.4%, influenced by those who were jobless, with an increase of 9.4%; and those seeking work for the first time, who have reached a rise of 20.9%. The participation and employment rates stood at 61.7% and 55.9%, decreasing by 0.1 and 0.5 percentage points, respectively; while the population outside the labor force increased by 1.1%, influenced only by habitual inactive persons, with a rise of 1.3%.
Female unemployment remains the main focus of the labor crisis. The female unemployment rate reached 10.3%, increasing by 0.6 percentage points in the period, due to a 1.7% rise in the labor force, higher than the 1.0% recorded by employed women, while unemployed women expanded by 7.6%, influenced only by the jobless, with an increase of 8.6%. Among men, unemployment reached 8.9%, growing by 1.0 percentage point in one year, due to no change in the labor force, and a 1.1% decrease recorded by employed men.
The report also detected a 0.2% decrease in employed persons over 12 months, a number exclusively influenced by men, with a 1.1% drop, because women increased by 1.0%.
Informality, another key element of the complex labor scenario facing Chile, stood at 26.5%, with an increase of 0.5 percentage points in one year. The indicator was 28.3% among women and 25.1% among men. In both cases it increased, although the rise was greater among women, with 0.8 percentage points compared to 0.2 percentage points among men.
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In the Metropolitan region, where the capital Santiago de Chile is located, the estimated unemployment rate for the May-July 2026 quarter reached 9.5%, increasing by 0.3 percentage points in 12 months, due to a 0.2% rise in the labor force, while employed persons registered a 0.1% decline. By economic sector, the decrease in the employed population was influenced by information and communications, with a drop of 21.4%; accommodation and food services, with a fall of 7.9%; and public administration, with a decrease of 5.9%; as well as occupational categories of formal salaried persons, with a drop of 4.3%; and informal salaried persons, with a decline of 3.6%.
The Minister of Economy and Mining, Daniel Mas, has said that the unemployment rate for the May-July quarter shows the complex reality the country faces in labor matters, with 980,000 people still without work. “Behind every figure there is a family, a young person looking for their first opportunity, a woman who wants to work,” Mas said.
The economic authority of the Kast Administration has assured that the figures show some improvements regarding women and informality, but added that this does not satisfy him. “As long as we have so many Chileans looking for work, we cannot be satisfied. That is why we have been very active, on the ground and connected with this urgency. We launched Employment Mode, which has already generated more than 35,000 jobs and activated opportunities for nearly 125,000 people,” he said.
Minister Mas explained that there are still tasks pending to reverse the figures, and pointed to increasing investment. “We know there is much to do, and for those who do not have work today, the signals are still not enough. We will continue accelerating investments and putting employment at the center of our decisions, with special concern for women and young people. We do not want a recovery that exists only in statistics: we want it to be felt in the regions, reach households, and translate into more and better jobs for Chileans,” he emphasized.