Increase in the net of unemployment rate

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI), during the second quarter of 2020, the country's employed population reached 10,272,400 people, a figure 39.6% lower than the same quarter of the previous year given the validity of the quarantine established due to COVID-19. The national unemployment rate was 8.8 in the second quarter of 2020 and it was estimated that 994,300 people actively sought employment in the country. As the last piece of data to mention, it was also estimated that the salary mass, which is the total accumulated remuneration of workers, had a negative variation of 56.3%, compared to the same period last year; proving that our country was not prepared for the pandemic disaster to happen. Many establishments were not used to selling online or had a strong connection with their customers to offer them what they needed at that moment; forcing them to go somewhere else and causing companies to prioritize their economy and to fire their people or close their businesses.

On the other hand, in an article published by RPP Noticias (2021), we found that a total of 2,231,300 people were left unemployed –taking into account the entire period of 2020–, which corresponds to 13% of workers who were left out of the total employed population with respect to 2019. As for the unemployment rate at the end of the 2020, we find that it stood at 7.4%, which translates to a total of 1,193,200 people who were actively looking for work in the country. It is mentioned that this figure is almost twice as high as in 2019, when only 3.6% of the population was included in the unemployment rate. In the same line, despite the unemployment rate increasing everywhere, the most affected were women under 25-years-olds and professionals with high school education. This reminds us of how businessmen’s decisions are based on misogini and in order benefit the older generation.

Another topic that brings our attention is the youth unemployment rate. This is very concerning since people around 15 to 24 years old are in the middle of their bachelor entitlement and need to practice what they have just learned, to be able to provide high quality services in the future. But not only that, this also affects the potential growth of our economy, since they are the future of society; sadly, this rate will continue to rise unless the government improves the education system. And since one of the most important aspects in our country, employers pay attention to, is the kind of education people have received, just worsens the situation of many people who cannot afford to pay for a good college or to even finish their studies. Even the Peruvian Institute of Evaluation, Accreditation and Certification of the Quality of Basic Education (IPEBA, 2011) wrote an article stating that one of the main issues and challenges in our country is the low quality education and the poor supervision of this service. 

In conclusion, the situation of the country would be better if the government would have invested more in education and provide low-income-students the chance to be better and improve their family lives by getting a better job and contributing to the economy of the country.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

INEI. (s. f.). La población ocupada del país alcanzó 10 millones 272 mil 400 personas en el II trimestre del 2020. Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. Recuperado 26 de mayo de 2022, de https://m.inei.gob.pe/prensa/noticias/la-poblacion-ocupada-del-pais-alcanzo-10-millones-272-mil-400-personas-en-el-ii-trimestre-del-2020-12346/#:~:text=La%20tasa%20de%20desempleo%20a,empleo%20activamente%20en%20el%20pa%C3%ADs.&text=En%20el%20segundo%20trimestre%20del,alcanz%C3%B3%20el%2012%2C4%25.

RRP. (2021, 15 marzo). Más de 2,2 millones de peruanos quedaron desempleados al cierre del 2020, según el INEI. RPP Noticias. Recuperado 26 de mayo de 2022, de https://rpp.pe/economia/economia/empleo-mas-de-2200-millones-de-peruanos-quedaron-desempleados-al-cierre-del-2020-segun-el-inei-trabajadores-coronavirus-en-peru-noticia-1326119

Johanna, D., Zegarra, R., Tutora, V., Olga, D., Rodríguez, M., Grado, R., Facultad, E., Economía, D., & Turismo, E. (2014). An analysis of the youth unemployment in Peru La Laguna, a 2 de Septiembre de 2015. https://riull.ull.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/915/1291/Un+analisis+del+desempleo+juvenil+en+Peru..pdf?sequence=1