Cuenca underemployment at 26%

Underemployment affects 26% in Cuenca

According to the latest statistics from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), more than a quarter of Cuencanos are underemployed. INEC defines the underemployed as those who want to work full time but cannot, and those with skills and education above their current employment.

Men waiting for offers of day jobs in San Francisco Plaza.

The hardest hit are workers making below the monthly minimum wage of $340, many of them day laborers and street vendors.

Since April, INEC reports that out of 3,969 people who posted in INEC’s Employment Network looking for work, only 1,532 received offers.

Cuenca fares better than the rest of the country in underemployment. The national rate is 41%.

In September, official unemployment in Cuenca was 4.17 percent. A year ago, the figure was 4.29 percent.