SANTIAGO, Sept. 28 (Reuters) – Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast unveiled a $1.3 billion plan on Monday aimed at creating 100,000 jobs through infrastructure, reconstruction, housing, and community projects.
• In the plan’s summary, the government noted that unemployment has remained above 8% for 43 consecutive months.
• “In the short term, this plan mobilizes 1.3 trillion Chilean pesos in investment, public works, and employment measures to generate economic activity and create more than 100,000 jobs, with effects that will begin to be felt over the coming months and through 2027,” the document stated.
• The measures are designed to accelerate public investment, encourage hiring through incentives, improve business liquidity by expediting public payments, and coordinate community projects.
• Chile’s unemployment rate hit 9.5% in July as economic growth slowed in the copper-rich nation that is heavily reliant on mineral exports and other natural-resource industries.
• The July figure was the highest unemployment rate since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
• Kast has described unemployment is a “major weakness” for his government and acknowledged that persistently high joblessness has fueled public frustration.
(Report by Fabián Cambero; Writing by Iñigo Alexander. Editing by Lucinda Elliott)
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