Six Months In, Unemployment Hits 9.5% — Highest in Five Years

Marking six months since Kast's March 11 inauguration, national unemployment reached 9.5% in the May–July quarter (about 981,000 people), the highest rate in five years and the highest in Latin America, hitting women and young people hardest; informal employment stood at 26.5%. The Central Bank's September Informe de Política Monetaria (IPoM) cut its 2026 growth forecast from 1%–1.75% to 0.25%–0.75%, citing weakening demand, a deteriorating labor market, falling business confidence and the drag from fuel-price increases, while projecting a rebound to 2%–3% growth in 2027 and 2.25%–3.25% in 2028 aided by reconstruction-law spending. Kast, who had campaigned on cutting unemployment to 6% and creating the most jobs in a decade, acknowledged his government had not yet solved the problem and ordered ministers to draft a short-term emergency jobs plan.