Unemployment fell slightly to 8.3% in third quarter of 2017, announces INDEC

Unemployment fell slightly in the third quarter of 2017, the INDEC national statistics bureau reported this week. The figure remains single-digit in percentage terms at 8.3 percent but has now risen to seven digits in terms of people out of work with1,058,000peoplejoblessinthethirdquarterofthisyear,INDEC said. This figure does not include the 1.38 million who are considered underemployed nor almost two million people (1,959,000) employed people who are actively seeking a better job.

Despite those numbers, the overall percentage is lower than the 8.7 percent from the previous quarter and the 8.5 percent of the same quarter last year. But the improvement seems low when compared to the inter-annual growth rates posted in that quarter – 4.9 percent in July, 4.3 percent in August and 3.8 percent in September. Furthermore, the percentage of those underemployed (working less than 35 hours a week and aspiring to full time) is up – from seven to 7.9 percent in the last 12 months. This figure tends to rise in better economic times with more alternatives.

Double-digit unemployment (10.3 percent) was reported for Greater Buenos Aires while the Northwest was the region with the lowest unemployment at 6.7 percent. The cities of Córdoba, Mar del Plata and San Juan all reported above-average unemployment at nine percent or more.