FX.co ★ Colombia Jobless Rate Drops in May

Colombia’s unemployment rate declined to 8.0% in May 2026 from 8.8% in April, coming in below market expectations of 8.9% and marking the lowest May reading since 2001. The unemployment rate for women was 9.9%, compared with 6.6% for men, yielding a gender gap of 3.3 percentage points. The number of unemployed people fell by 203,000 compared with the same month a year earlier. The steepest reduction occurred in rural areas and small population centers, where unemployment dropped 30.5%, followed by the 13 main cities and metropolitan areas, which recorded a 4.4% decrease. Over the March–May 2026 rolling period, the national unemployment rate averaged 8.5%.