Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06SANTIAGO452
2006-03-03 19:07:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Santiago
Cable title:  

CHILEAN UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS TO LOWEST LEVEL SINCE

Tags:  ECON ELAB CI 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0009
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSG #0452 0621907
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031907Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8601
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION PRIORITY 2506
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 2938
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAR 4511
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 4480
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO PRIORITY 3215
UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000452 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ELAB CI
SUBJECT: CHILEAN UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS TO LOWEST LEVEL SINCE
1997


UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000452

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ELAB CI
SUBJECT: CHILEAN UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS TO LOWEST LEVEL SINCE
1997



1. In the final trimester (November 2005-February 2006) of
President Lagos' administration, unemployment in Chile
dropped to its lowest level since 1997. Nationwide
unemplQment now stands at seven percent. Over the course of
the last year, the Chilean economy created almost 100,000 new
jobs, while 70,000 new job seekers entered the labor force.
Unemployment figures normally dip during Chile's summer
months as employment in sectors such as tourism, agriculture
and construction expands. By comparison, during last year's
corresponding trimester, unemployment dropped to 7.5 percent.


2. During Lagos' 2000 election campaign, as Chile suffered
near double-digit unemployment as a fallout from the 1997
Asian financial crisis, Lagos promised to create 700,000 new
jobs. According to recent public statements by Minister of
Labor Ljubetic, the Chilean economy created 570,000 new jobs
during the 2000-2005 timeframe.


3. The non-inflationary rate of unemployment in Chile is
generally considered to be five percent. Six of Chile's
thirteen regions are now close to that mark. Before the
Asian financial crisis in 1997, overall unemployment in Chile
had been around that five percent mark. Nationwide
unemployment peaked at an average of 9.7 percent for 1999.
In the fallout from the Asian crisis, Chile's export-driven
market faced much lower real GDP growth and sustained higher
unemployment. With real GDP growth in 2005 estimated at 6.3
percent and nationwide unemployment dipping to seven percent,
Chile is nearing the sort of growth and job creation levels
it enjoyed before 1997.
KELLY