Chile’s unemployment rate rose to 9.6% in the June–August 2026 quarter, up from 9.5% in the previous period and slightly above market expectations of 9.5%. The number of unemployed increased 13% year-on-year, driven by a 12.1% rise in people who had previously been employed and a 23.2% surge in first-time job seekers. Overall employment fell 0.9%.
By sector, employment dropped most sharply in manufacturing (-7.6%), information and communications (-16.8%), and commerce (-1.1%). The informal employment rate stood at 26.3%.
Among women, the unemployment rate climbed to 10.3%, an increase of 1.0 percentage point, as the labor force expanded by 1.3%, outpacing a 0.2% increase in employment. Among men, unemployment reached 9.1%, up 1.1 percentage points, with the labor force contracting 0.5%, a smaller decline than the 1.7% drop in employment.
In the Metropolitan Region, unemployment stood at 9.8%. The seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was 9.4%.
