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Unemployment falls to 8.5% as private jobs lead the rebound

If you are sizing Panama's hiring mood, dual-income plans, or whether the private sector is really absorbing workers again, the August labor survey is the clearest official snapshot since last year's high unemployment print.

On 29 September 2026, the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo (INEC) released results of the Encuesta de Mercado Laboral for August 2026. Telemetro, Panamá América, Nexo, and Contraloría social posts carry matching core figures. President José Raúl Mulino and Labor minister Jackeline Muñoz amplified the same numbers after the Cabinet meeting.

The headline numbers

  • National unemployment rate: 8.5%, down from 10.4% in September 2025 (about 1.9 percentage points)
  • Occupied population: about 2,045,000 to 2,045,979 people, +77,231 versus September 2025 (+3.9% in Telemetro's framing)
  • Economically active population (PEA): 2,235,167 (+1.8% / about +39,117)
  • Unemployed: 189,188 (101,327 women; 87,861 men), about 38,114 fewer than a year earlier
  • Female unemployment: 10.4%, down from 13.2%
  • Informality rate: 45.8%, down from 47.1% (absolute informal headcount barely moved, per Panamá América / Nexo)

Mulino rounded the job gain to 77,300 new hirings and said that, after 12 years, more jobs were generated in the private sector than in the public sector. INEC category detail cited by Nexo: private-company employees +54,534; government employees -3,852; own-account workers +26,406.

Where the jobs sit

Telemetro and Presidencia coverage list commerce, agriculture, construction, transport, and manufacturing among the activities that concentrate the most occupied people. The private sector holds about 46% of occupied workers, ahead of own-account and public employment.

Muñoz also cited youth programs: Mi Primer Empleo about 4,278 young people; Mi Primer Empleo Agro more than 2,000 by July. Mulino flagged upcoming paid tourism training with INADEH and ATP, plus about 4,800 AI and cybersecurity scholarships with Google (Talent Up / MEF channel in Muñoz's framing).

The quality caveat relocators should not skip

Panamá América notes that ocupación plena (full desired hours at or above the legal minimum) fell sharply, from about 1,090,616 to 945,631. Nexo's read of INEC tables goes further: people working 40+ hours below the minimum wage jumped from about 213,370 to 413,155 (roughly one in five occupied). Open unemployment moved only slightly (6.9% to 6.7%); much of the headline drop is in hidden unemployment.

Nexo also flags a method note: August 2026 uses a new sample frame from the 2023 Census and new population projections, so year-on-year comparisons need caution. The legal minimum wage itself rose in January 2026, which can move the under-minimum count even when hours stay similar.

Bottom line for expats

More people are working and the official unemployment rate is lower. That is real for household confidence and for employers who need staff. It is not automatic proof that full-time, above-minimum private jobs are easy to find. If you are job hunting or hiring, compare any "full time" offer to the current regional minimum for that activity, and treat Mulino's private-over-public line as a political summary of INEC categories, not a wage guarantee.