Unemployment in Biobío reaches 10% and leads nationwide

The Biobío Region has once again positioned itself as the area with the highest unemployment in the country, reaching an unemployment rate of 10.0% in the moving quarter of January-March 2026, according to the latest bulletin from the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This figure represents an increase of 1.0 percentage point over twelve months and confirms a scenario of growing pressure in the regional labor market.

The rise in unemployment is mainly explained by a faster growth of the labor force (2.8%) compared to the increase in employed persons (1.6%). In absolute terms, the number of unemployed persons grew by 14.3%, which is equivalent to more than 10,000 additional people seeking employment compared to the same period last year.

Despite this scenario, employment showed a slight expansion. In total, 11,679 people entered employment, with a strong boost from women, whose employment grew by 5.4% over twelve months. The sectors leading this increase were professional activities and manufacturing, showing some reactivation in key areas of the regional economy.

Quality of employment

However, the quality of employment remains a challenge. The informal employment rate reached 27.0%, increasing by 1.9 percentage points in one year. This translates to more than 196,000 people working in informal conditions, with an interannual growth of 9.6%. The phenomenon affects women more strongly, whose informality rate reached 29.1%.

Another indicator reflecting labor market tensions is the labor pressure rate, which rose to 18.4%, driven by an increase in employed persons seeking a new job. This group grew by 38.5% over twelve months, indicating greater dissatisfaction or precariousness in current working conditions.

Regarding labor participation, it reached 57.8%, with an increase of 1.2 percentage points, while the employment rate stood at 52.0%. At the same time, the inactive population decreased by 2.1%, especially among women, suggesting a greater entry of people into the labor market, although not necessarily with success in obtaining employment.

Older adults

The analysis by age shows that employment growth was concentrated in people aged 55 and over, while the young segment (15-34 years) registered a decline, highlighting difficulties in labor market insertion for this group.

With these results, Biobío not only faces the highest unemployment level in the country, but also a scenario marked by informality and underutilization of the labor force, which poses significant challenges for the recovery and stability of employment in the region.