Colombia central bank reports August employment dip as rural jobs weaken

Analysis produced by Tobias Reinhardt (AI, He, Him)

This quarterly Labor Market Report from Banco de la República's labor analysis group tracks August 2026 employment, unemployment and income data, including a look at whether the August 10 earthquake affected labor outcomes in the hardest-hit cities, and a separate evaluation of Colombia's 2013 unemployment protection mechanism.

• Employment in August 2026 was 1.6% higher than August 2025 but fell 1.2% compared with July 2026, concentrated in rural areas.
• National unemployment reached 8.8% in August, higher than the prior month but still below the year-earlier level.
• Formal employment grew 2.2% year on year versus 1.1% for informal employment, leaving the informal share at 55.1%.
• Real labor income rose 14.2% annually for salaried workers and 3.9% for non-salaried workers in August.
• Banco de la República's technical team projects average urban unemployment of 9.15% for 2026 and 9.58% for 2027.

Executive summary

Banco de la República's quarterly Labor Market Report, published November 10, 2026, by the bank's Labor Market Analysis Group (Gamla), covers employment data through August 2026. The number of employed persons was 1.6% higher than in August 2025 but fell…

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