Unemployment Increases in the DR

Santo Domingo, July 22. -Nearly 70,000 people were unemployed in the Dominican Republic over the past three years, according to a new report.The analysis that was conducted by the Henri Hebrard Consultants firm for the Association of Industries of Herrera and the province of Santo Domingo indicates taht the unemployment rate rose from 14 percent in April 2008 to 16.6 percent in April 2011.

Based on April 2008, the number of unemployed in the country rose from 596, 270 to 665,806 in 2011, which is the highest figure since April 2006 when 669,250 people were out of work, the study says.

The study shows that the 125,000 jobs created in the last three years (of which 69,512 were in the formal sector) were insufficient to assimilate those who are unemployed and added that each month 8,000 more unemployed enter the market. (Prensa Latina)