Ecuador: Lowest unemployment rate in the region says national survey

telesurtv.net reported Ecuador’s unemployment rate was the lowest in the region, according to a new figures released by the National Survey of Employment and Unemployment.

At only 4.8 percent, Ecuador has the lowest unemployment rate in Latin America, considerably lower than its neighbor Colombia, which has an unemployment rate of 9 percent, according to the National Survey of Employment and Unemployment.

“It’s a very encouraging figure in light of the fall in the price of oil, the appreciation of the (U.S.) dollar and the currency devaluation in neighboring countries. Despite all of that, we have protected employment,” said Ecuadorean Minister of Labor Leonardo Berrezueta on Monday.

Ecuador, an oil-exporting country, would have normally taken in US$7 billion in oil revenue, but the drop in the price of oil meant that amount, representing 7 percent of the country’s GDP, was foregone in 2015. Read Article

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