The Count: LAC 2009 unemployment

0.8...

...is the percentage point rise in unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean during 2009. That's right folks, ECLAC and the International Labor Organization have a new report out, showing that contrary to fears about the potentially grim effects of the global financial crisis, unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean only increased from 7.3 percent to 8.1.

Following almost a decade of decreasing unemployment rates, the onset of the global crisis posed the threat of erasing all that hard-earned progress. Indeed, during the first quarter of 2009 many countries saw an alarming spike in unemployment rates. So then what happened next? To quote ECLAC:

"Although the crisis caused a drop in employment, an increase in unemployment rates and the deterioration of the quality of employment, the impact was mitigated by the signs of economic recovery as of mid-2009 around the globe, the countercyclical policies adopted in many countries and the stability of the purchasing power of wages due to decreasing inflation, which restrained the fall in domestic demand."

But how did each country fare individually? Well, below are the ECLAC/ILO numbers presented all pretty like courtesy of Maladjusted Charts™:

[South America: Percentage point change in unemployment, 2008-09]

For a while now the Count has been getting a little bored of seeing Chile "bestest-society-ever" scoring highest in every freaking social indicator around (except inequality, haha!). So it is surprising to see it leading the pack in unemployment increases. But what's most remarkable about this picture is Uruguay on the opposite end, showing unemployment actually decreasing by 0.2 points.

Not bad Uruguay. Not bad at all.