The Job Market Records Slight Improvement Amid Continuing Climate Effects
The High Commission for Planning reported that the national job market saw a slight increase during the second quarter of 2025, with 5,000 positions added, recovering from a loss of 82,000 positions during the same period last year. This increase resulted from the creation of 113,000 jobs in urban areas compared to a loss of 107,000 jobs in rural areas, all while the effects of drought continue to cast shadows over the labor market.
The commission clarified that formal employment saw an increase of 132,000 positions, with 124,000 in cities and 7,000 in villages, while informal jobs decreased by 126,000 due to a drop of 115,000 in rural areas and 12,000 in urban areas.
The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector recorded the largest decline, losing 108,000 positions, a decrease of 4%. Conversely, the construction and public works sector experienced significant growth, creating 74,000 jobs—45,000 in urban areas and 29,000 in rural regions—marking a 6% rise in employment volume. The services sector added 35,000 positions, driven by the creation of 61,000 jobs in urban areas, offset by a loss of 26,000 in rural areas, while the industry sector contributed only 2,000 new jobs.
The activity rate dropped by 0.8 percentage points, moving from 44.2% to 43.4%, due to a 1.5% increase in the working-age population against a slight decline of 0.3% in the number of active individuals. This decline was more pronounced in rural areas, with a drop of 1.6 percentage points, compared to 0.3 points in urban regions, and hit women harder at 1.2 percentage points, falling from 20.1% to 18.9%, compared to a 0.4-point decline for men.
The employment rate also fell by 0.5 percentage points nationwide, decreasing from 38.4% to 37.9%, with declines of 1.3 points in rural areas and 0.2 points in urban areas. On the other hand, the employment rate among men saw a slight improvement of 0.2 percentage points, reaching 61.2%, while it decreased more significantly among women, falling from 16.5% to 15.2%.
