Colombia’s monthly unemployment rate fell 1.1 percentage points to 8.6% in August, the lowest rate since 2001, according to the statistics agency DANE.

DANE director Piedad Urdinola said that “throughout the year, we’ve had good performance in the labor market and have seen very low unemployment rates.”

The positive trend was seen in nearly every month of this year.

In Colombia’s 13 largest cities, the unemployment rate dropped 2.2 percentage points from 10% to 7.8%.

“The change is being led by the cities,” said Urdinola.

In contrast, unemployment in rural areas rose from 7% to 7.8%.

The DANE report also showed a major gender gap.

The unemployment rate among men was 6.7%, whereas it was 11.2% for women, showing a discrepancy of 4.5%.

The sectors with the largest growth in jobs are manufacturing, construction, and transportation and storage.

The manufacturing industry reported a growth of 199.000 jobs, while construction grew by 178.00 jobs, and the transportation and storage sector grew by 172.000 jobs.

In contrast, the agricultural sector performed worse than last year and lost 237.000 jobs.

In total, Colombia’s workforce reached almost 24 million, which is 393.000 people more than in August 2024.

Improving living and labor conditions of Colombia’s working class has been one of the main priorities of President Gustavo Petro’s administration.