According to the most recent report from the National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE, the city of Ibagué achieved a decrease in the unemployment rate during the first quarter of the year, compared to 2023.
The data presented by the director of DANE, Piedad Urdinola, show that the capital of the department went from having a rate of 19.2% of unemployed during January, February and March of last year, to 14.9% during the beginning of this 2024, which represents a difference in percentage points of -4.3%.
When it comes to female participation in the labor market, this remains a structural problem in the city and other parts of the country.
“When we see what happens across the cities, we find that they are quite far from the distribution line, which would show that there would be parity. (…) What we find is less participation of women in Ibagué, Santa Marta, Pereira , Valledupar, Armenia and Sincelejo,” said the director.
In the accumulated year of the sample, DANE revealed that the capital of Tolima moves away from the top of the capital cities with the highest unemployment rate, finding itself behind Arauca, Mocoa, Quibdó, Puerto Carreño, Riohacha and Florencia.
In any case, Ibagué continues to be above the national rate which, on this occasion, is 10.2%.
Informality
It is important to highlight that decreases in labor informality rates were reported both nationally and in the 13 main cities and metropolitan areas in the month and quarter of January – March 2024, with statistically significant variations in the national total for both periods. , and in the 23 cities and metropolitan areas, for the quarter.
However, for the specific case of Ibagué, DANE data show that the proportion of the informally employed population during this first quarter of the year had a slight increase of 0.4%, compared to the same period in 2023.
Youth rate
When we review the unemployment rates for the young population between 15 and 28 years old, we find that the capital of the department managed to stand out for its reduction in unemployment.
“Ibagué reaches 23%, with a statistically significant reduction of 6.5 percentage points,” concluded the director of DANE.
