The President of the National Institute of Statistics, Elías Eljuri, said Thursday that about four million jobs have been created in Venezuela in the last 11 years, which shows the development of the country’s economy and the effective social policies promoted by President Hugo Chávez.

“It’s a fact that the Venezuelan economy was not only able to totally absorb the new economically active population between 1999 and 2012, but it also absorbed almost 515,000 unemployed people to incorporate four million people [into the workforce] during this period,” Eljuri said in a statement.

He highlighted the advances regarding job creation that are included in the Statistics Institute’s latest monthly report on unemployment in Venezuela, which lowered to 7.4 percent in June.

“A variation of 1.2 percentage points was registered between June 2011 and June 2012, which represents an increase of 441,042 employed people,” according to a report on yearly unemployment.

Additionally, the report highlights that the unemployment rate decreased by almost 50% under the government of President Hugo Chavez, dropping from 15 percent in June 1999 to 7.4 percent in June of 2012.

The report also indicates that the quality of the jobs available has improved, and the sectors generating stable and productive employment have been consolidated.

Formal employment went from 46.3 percent of the overall work force in June 1999 to 57 percent for the same period in 2012. Likewise, informal employment dropped from 53.7 percent in 1999 to 43 percent in 2012.

According to the report, the economically active population had an annual increase of 237,247 people, jumping from 13.25 million people in June 2011 to over 13.55 million this June.

AVN / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / July 13, 2012