The unemployment rate in Chile reached 9.1% in the mobile quarter from February to April 2026, which implies an increase of two tenths compared to the period ending in March and an interannual rebound of three tenths, according to data released this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
This increase compared to the previous year was explained by a 1% growth in the labor force, higher than the 0.7% advance recorded among employed persons. At the same time, the number of unemployed increased by 4.1%, driven by both those who were laid off (3.3%) and those seeking employment for the first time (11.6%).
Participation and employment rates remained unchanged, standing at 62.3% and 56.7%, respectively. In the breakdown by sex, the female unemployment rate stood at 10.5%, while that of men was 8%.
In parallel, the total number of hours effectively worked decreased by 0.2% in the interannual comparison, in line with the 0.9% drop in the average duration of the workday, which stood at 36.2 hours.