Job Analysts Warn that Many New Panama Jobs are Short Term and Casual: Mulino Highlighted that 111,000 Jobs were Created

2026-03-08 - 11:57

More than one million people in Panama are between unemployment and informality. The unemployment rate reached 10.4% at the end of September 2025, representing 227,302 people without work, while more than 784,000 work in the informal sector, according to the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) of the Comptroller General of the Republic. However, the President of the Republic pictured below, José Raúl Mulino, assures that between September and December of last year, 111,000 jobs were created. “I was looking at the INEC figures, and while unemployment remains at 10.4%, the measurement only covers up to September, which was the end of these conflicts, which in Bocas alone cost over 7,000 jobs. In the last four months of 2025, 111,000 jobs were created nationwide, with all that this means for the national economy,” Mulino stated. The president’s statement raises the question: in which sectors were those jobs created? Business consultant and labor market specialist René Quevedo pictured below, explains that part of the difference between the official figures and the Executive’s statements is due to the fact that employment data can be measured in different ways and in the case of the INEC it covers up to September of last year. According to Quevedo, the President is mainly referring to labor contracts processed before the Ministry of Labor and Workforce Development (Mitradel). It details that, indeed, in 2025 that entity managed 309,000 new labor contracts, a figure 11% higher than the previous year. However, he warns that, historically, 75% of those contracts are temporary or for a specific project. In contrast, the INEC report indicates that during the same period, 63,000 new formal private jobs were added to the economy. “In other words, contracts don’t always translate into permanent jobs,” he explained. Quevedo adds that, despite the deterioration caused by job losses in sectors such as mining and agriculture, the economy showed signs of recovery during the second half of last year, with increased consumption, bank financing to the productive sector and an increase in private investment. However, he warns that informality remains high, with 47.7% of workers outside the formal sector, and that the main challenge is to generate more stable job opportunities, especially for young people and in the interior of the country. For his part, economist Carlos Araúz pictured above, believes that the double-digit unemployment rate reflects structural problems that plague the Panamanian economy. “Double-digit unemployment anywhere in the world is truly scandalous,” he stated. In his view, factors such as institutional weakness, transparency problems, educational deficiencies, and a lack of confidence in the economy are contributing to the deterioration of the labor market. Araúz also warns that unemployment is affecting women and young people more severely. Among the latter, the unemployment rate reaches 22.3% in the 15-22 age group, reflecting the difficulties new workers face in entering the labor market. “Unemployment in Panama has a woman’s face and also a young person’s face,” reiterated the economist, who believes that the country must strengthen productive sectors capable of generating greater added value and formal employment. Meanwhile, economist Eric Molino Ferrer pictured above, points out that the unemployment rate of 10.4% confirmed by the INEC is within what several analysts anticipated. “We are talking about more than 227,000 unemployed Panamanians. That is a fairly high percentage and the highest level of unemployment we have had since 2021,” he said. Molino Ferrer also highlights that unemployment disproportionately affects women, whose rate exceeds 13.2%, compared to 8.1% among men. Furthermore, it emphasizes that the country maintains a high level of informal employment, with approximately 785,000 people working without contracts or social security. The economist argues that one of the factors that contributed to the increase in unemployment was the closure of the mine, which reduced both direct and indirect jobs in several regions of the country. In his view, the challenge now is to orient economic growth towards the generation of formal employment, especially in sectors with high hiring potential such as commerce, construction and logistics. Where are the Jobs? In contrast, the INEC report from the Labor Market Survey details that the employed population in Panama increased from 1,941,201 people in October 2024 to 1,968,748 in September 2025. Of the total employed, 1,216,029 correspond to employees, while 618,190 are self-employed, representing 31.4% of the total, and 100,064 people work in domestic service, an activity mostly made up of women. Extracting data from the INEC’s Labor Market Survey report, it is detailed that, regarding the quality of employment, 1,090,616 people have full employment, equivalent to 55.4% of the total employed, a proportion higher than the 53.9% registered in 2024. A reduction in the forms of under-employment was also reported: visible under-employment decreased from 100,894 to 79,431 people, while invisible under-employment went from 228,868 to 213,370. By economic sector, the largest number of workers are concentrated in service activities, with 580,906 employed, and followed by other branches of the tertiary sector such as commerce, transportation, hotels, and restaurants. In contrast, sectors such as financial activities and education show lower levels of informality within their labor structure.