Economics

Chile Jobless Rate Hits Highest in a Decade, Retail Sales Slump

  • Retail sales plummeted 31.3% in April from the year earlier
  • Industrial production fell 3.8% in April, mining dropped 0.5%
People wearing protective masks wait in line at the Unemployment Fund Administration office in Santiago, Chile.Photographer: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg
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Chile’s unemployment rate rose to the highest in a decade and retail sales slumped by almost a third as the coronavirus pandemic forced much of the country into lockdown.

The jobless rate increased to 9.0% in the three months through April from 8.2% in the month-earlier period, the national statistics institute said Friday. That compares with the 9.1% median estimate of analyst surveyed by Bloomberg.