Costa Rica’s unemployment rate rose to 6.5% in the July-to-September quarter, up from 5.7% a year earlier, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC). The agency’s Continuous Employment Survey, released Thursday, counted 154,736 unemployed people, 20,276 more than the 134,460 recorded in the same period of 2025.
The increase was concentrated among men. Their unemployment rate climbed from 5.0% to 6.0%, adding roughly 15,000 jobless men for a total of about 88,000, according to INEC. Among women, the rate stood at 7.4%, compared with 6.9% a year earlier, a change the institute did not consider statistically significant. About 67,000 women were unemployed during the quarter.
Total employment held steady at about 2.21 million people, within a labor force of roughly 2.37 million. The employment rate slipped to 51.3% from 51.7%, while the net participation rate was unchanged at 54.9%. Participation remains sharply divided by gender, at 67.6% for men and 42.2% for women.
Underemployment, which counts workers who want more hours than they are getting, rose significantly to 3.3% of the employed population from 2.8%. The rise was steeper among women, whose underemployment rate reached 4.4% from 3.3%, while the rate for men was 2.6%. Informal employment, which covers jobs without social security registration or formal contracts, included about 811,000 people, or 36.7% of all workers. INEC reported no significant change in that figure from a year earlier.
The year-on-year rise comes despite some easing within 2026. INEC figures show unemployment at 7.1% in the January-to-March quarter and 7.0% from April to June before falling to 6.5% in the most recent period. The data arrive as several sectors report pressure on hiring. Exporters and manufacturers have warned that the strong colón is threatening jobs, and this week a call center operator scaled back a Costa Rica hiring pledge, citing competition from Asia. Costa Rica’s record dollar supply has kept the exchange rate low, reducing the value of earnings for businesses that sell abroad in dollars and pay their costs in colones.
The Central Bank of Costa Rica had already lowered its growth forecast for the year, citing the risks of El Niño to agriculture, food prices and electricity generation. The next quarterly survey will show whether the easing seen since the start of the year continues, or whether the gap with 2025 widens as the economy cools heading into 2027.
