employment in the Uruguay grew steadily, according to a report by the Observatory of the Economic Situation of the Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU)a phenomenon accompanied by the increase in real wages, achieving an increase in the wage bill.
With an increase in Working Age Population (PET) which increased about 14,000 people per year in the last twelve months – until July – the number of active people added 62,000 people compared to the 47,000 inactive. According to the report, this phenomenon came to reverse what happened in the pandemic, making the increase in assets translate into employed people reaching some 64,000.
Of that total, the conditions were translated almost by halves, achieving 33,000 formal jobs and 31,000. A number that improved in relation to the times prior to the pandemic where a greater deterioration of informal work.
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), during the first semester the rate of employment advanced almost half a percentage point and stood at 58.6% at the country level, which implies that there is Uruguay almost 1,713,000 people working. With this, the UCU report establishes that, compared to last year, employment is growing steadily after stagnation.
The increase in employment is accompanied by a increase in real wages, generating an increase in the Uruguayan wage bill. Added to this, according to the report, was a period of meager growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
More employment data
According to INE data, given that the activity rate (people who offer their work) advanced very modestly, the increase in the employment was translated into a significant drop in unemployment which dropped from 8.2 to 7.8% in July, the lowest rate so far this year and a rate even lower than that of a year ago. It is estimated that there are just over 144,000 people looking for work without finding it.
The improvement in the labor market data in the month of July was mainly due to the progress in the interior of the country. Indeed, there the employment increased from 57.5% to 58.1%, while the unemployment dropped from 8.8% to 8.1%.
The new labor market data at the national level are the best since 2017-2018 and occur despite the difficulties posed by the crisis in Argentina, especially for commercial activity in the Uruguayan coast. In addition, the worst problems caused by the drought.
Source: Ambito
