The president of Venezuela’s National Institute of Statistics (INE), Elías Eljuri, said Wednesday in a televised interview that around 4.5 million jobs have been created throughout the country during the 14 years of the Bolivarian government.
“The country’s working-aged population grew from 58.7% to 66.6% and this tells us that there are less dependents and more people active and working to help the country get ahead,” he said.
He indicated that this structural change could last 20 to 30 years, and could be a window of opportunity that can be used to develop policies that influence the growth of the country.
According to the INE’s last monthly report on the workforce, the unemployment rate stands at 7%, down from 14.6% in 1999.
The number of unemployed workers dropped by 65,841 between April 2012 and April 2013, and the majority of those newly employed – 54,810 – are between 15 and 24 years of age.
The economically active population has grown by 3.5 million, Eljuri said, and “all have been absorbed into the productive apparatus.”
Meanwhile, the results of the new report also indicate that formal sector jobs have grown from 49% of the workforce to 60%, while the informal economy shrank correspondingly from 51% to 39%.
Correo del Orinoco/ Press – Venezuelan Embassy to the US
