QUITO: Unemployment in Ecuador fell 1 percentage point in full-year 2011 to 5.1 percent, the government said on Monday, as strong economic growth fueled job creation.
The Andean country is forecast to grow 6.5 percent in 2011, almost 3 percentage points higher than in 2010, chiefly due to increased state spending on roads, hospitals and schools.
After growing 9 percent in the third quarter 2011 from a year earlier, officials said annual growth could be even higher. For details, see
High levels of government spending in the OPEC member country has been the centerpiece of President Rafael Correa's economic policy since he took office in 2007 and key to job creation in the past few years.
Unemployment in the oil-rich Andean nation has been falling steadily since hitting 9.1 percent in March 2010, the INEC statistics agency said in a report.
Increased state spending has boosted Correa's popularity among the majority poor, but has also stoked inflation, putting consumer goods out of reach for many middle-class Ecuadoreans disenchanted with Correa's leftist policies.
The unemployment rate in Latin America and the Caribbean will likely hold steady in 2012 as global economic uncertainty hampers new employment, the United Nations' International Labor Organization said last week.
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