Colombia November urban jobless rate 9.6pc, national 8.4pc

BOGOTA: Colombia's urban jobless rate, based on surveys in the 13 biggest cities, rose to 9.6 percent in November from 8.7 percent in the same month last year, the government said on Friday.

The national unemployment rate was 8.4 percent, up from 7.5 percent in the same month in 2016, the DANE statistics agency said.

Colombia's urban rate is more closely watched by financial markets than the national figure because close to 70 percent of the country's workforce is in large cities.

The jobless figures are not seasonally adjusted and can be volatile, depending on factors such as peak shopping periods and vacation months when retail and tourism employment generally rises.