Colombia Unemployment Rises in December

Colombia’s unemployment rate rose to 8.0% in December 2025 from 7.0% in November. In the 13 major cities and metropolitan areas, the jobless rate stood at 7.8%, down from 9.0% in December 2024. The labor force participation rate edged slightly lower to 64.3% from 64.4% a year earlier, while the employment rate increased to 59.2% from 58.5% in December 2024, indicating modest gains in job creation despite the monthly rise in unemployment.

Colombia’s unemployment rate fell to 7.0% in November 2025 from 8.2% in October, the lowest level in the historical series. The number of unemployed declined by 241,000 year-on-year, with the sharpest drops in rural areas (-31.0%) and in the 10 largest cities (-16.9%). The gender gap narrowed to a record-low 3.5 percentage points, with unemployment at 5.5% for men and 9.1% for women. In the September-November rolling quarter, the highest unemployment rates were recorded in Quibdó (21.8%), Cartagena (12.6%), and Riohacha (11.7%), while the lowest were seen in Villavicencio (6.8%), Bogotá (7.0%), and the Manizales metropolitan area (7.2%).

Colombia’s unemployment rate fell to 8.2% in October 2025, compared to 9.1% a year earlier, remaining at the lowest level since November 2024. Joblessness stood at 6.2% for men and 10.9% for women. Compared with October 2024, the number of unemployed people fell by 174,000, while the employed population rose by 977,000, an increase of 4.2%. The largest employment gains came from agriculture, livestock, hunting, forestry and fishing (347,000), accommodation and food services (279,000), and transportation and storage (231,000). For the August–October period, the unemployment rate averaged 8.3%.