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At only 4.8 percent, Ecuador has the lowest unemployment rate in Latin America, considerably lower than its neighbor Colombia, which has an unemployment rate of 9 percent, according to the National Survey of Employment and Unemployment.
"It's a very encouraging figure in light of the fall in the price of oil, the appreciation of the (U.S.) dollar and the currency devaluation in neighboring countries. Despite all of that, we have protected employment," said Ecuadorean Minister of Labor Leonardo Berrezueta on Monday.
Ecuador, an oil-exporting country, would have normally taken in US$7 billion in oil revenue, but the drop in the price of oil meant that amount, representing 7 percent of the country's GDP, was foregone in 2015.
Another hurdle Ecuador has had to overcome is its use of the U.S. dollar, meaning it is incapable of devaluing its currency as other countries in Latin America have done to increase their competitiveness.
Despite those challenges, Ecuador outperformed many other countries in the region, such as Peru, which had 5.8 percent unemployment.
Ecuador even outperformed many countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which had average unemployment rate of 6.7 percent.
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The figures for Ecuador come from the National Survey of Employment and Unemployment, which also found that “suitable employment” in Ecuador increased from 39.18 percent in 2009 to 46.50 percent in 2015. Meanwhile, “inadequate employment” decreased from 52.41 percent to 48.09 in the same period.
The survey also found that poverty had dropped to historic lows, with 23.28 percent poverty nationwide and 8.45 percent extreme poverty. Since 2006, 1.3 million people have been lifted out of poverty.
The drop is poverty is attributed to the redistributive policies of the government of Rafael Correa, which very recently celebrated the nine year anniversary of its arrival to power.
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