Chile’s unemployment rate reached 9.6% in the June–August quarter, its highest level since May 2021. Total employment fell as more people sought work, the National Statistics Institute (INE) reported. Formal salaried jobs declined, while informal work expanded, leaving a weaker market for people relying on local hiring.
Who is losing ground
INE’s Encuesta Nacional de Empleo, published Wednesday, 30 September, showed unemployment up 1.0 percentage point over 12 months. The seasonally adjusted rate stood at 9.4%, an increase of 0.1 point from the previous quarter. The number of unemployed people grew 13.0% in a year: 12.1% more people had lost jobs, and first-time job seekers rose 23.2%.
Total employment fell 0.9%. Men’s employment dropped 1.7%, while women’s rose 0.2%. Women faced 10.3% unemployment, compared with 9.1% for men. In the Santiago Metropolitan Region, unemployment reached 9.8%, up 0.9 points in a year.
The labour force grew 0.3%, but participation slipped to 61.5%, and the employment rate fell to 55.6%. Unemployment had stayed above 9% for five consecutive rolling quarters. Job seekers have faced a strained market throughout that stretch.
Several industries shed jobs sharply. Information and communications employment fell 16.8% over 12 months, manufacturing dropped 7.6%, and commerce declined 1.1%. Formal salaried jobs fell 2.9%. Unpaid family work dropped 4.0%.
Informal work made up 26.3% of employment, up 0.3 points. Its growth came mainly in transport, administrative and support services, and domestic work. Total hours worked fell 2.4% in a year, and the average workweek shortened to 36.4 hours.
Hiring, policy and costs
The report described slower local hiring, particularly in sectors where expatriates often compete for formal jobs. Foreign-contract remote workers, it said, aren't directly exposed to local hiring conditions but are exposed to exchange-rate changes. A weaker job market gives employers a larger pool of candidates, while making contract and social-security enrolment checks more important.
On Thursday, 1 October, the dólar observado stood at 972.60 pesos, compared with 970.46 on Wednesday. At that rate, US$1,000 converts to CLP 972,600. A CLP 800,000 rent equals about US$823. Rents and contracts indexed to the UF adjust with inflation, not the dollar. The UF stood at 41,065.38 pesos, about US$42.22.
The government’s 2027 budget, delivered that week, increases spending by 1.5%. The finance ministry said it would scrutinize outlays. President José Antonio Kast sent Congress a bill to extend a monthly fuel bonus of 100,000 pesos, about US$103, for taxis, shared taxis and school transport until December.
Pressure beyond the labour figures
Industrial production fell 5.7% in August, and copper output dropped 12.8% to its lowest level in about 15 years. Unions at Antofagasta Minerals’ Centinela mine voted 98.73% in favour of a strike over equal pay, then took their protest to Santiago. The head of shipping line CSAV said labour reforms were costing US$4 billion.
The report landed during a politically charged week. Chile’s national football team lost 4–2 to the United States in a friendly in St. Louis on Tuesday. The Senate president ruled that migrant detention reform could return with 29 Senate votes. INE’s next reading, covering July–September, was due at the end of October; the release included no official forecast.