Macroeconomic outlook report: Chile

During the second quarter of 2019, year-over-year GDP growth in Chile accelerated by 0.09 percentage points from 1Q19 to 2.04%. This performance was mainly explained by the behavior of the external sector, after the slowdown of imports. In the labor market, the unemployment rate increased by 0.24 p.p. with respect to the previous quarter, to 7.03% in this quarter; while employment grew at a year-over-year rate of 1.26%, which represented an acceleration of 0.51 p.p. with respect to the previous quarter. In 2Q19, inflation stood at 2.63%, after an acceleration of 0.33 p.p. with respect to 1Q19. The Chilean peso depreciated against the US dollar compared to the previous quarter. The average exchange rate of the Chilean peso was 683.94 $CLP/USD in 2Q19.

Macroeconomic overview

• During the second quarter of the year, Chile's GDP growth accelerated by 0.09 p.p. from 1Q19 to 2.04%. The performance of the GDP was explained by the external sector, after a greater deceleration of imports than of exports.
• In the labor market, the unemployment rate increased 0.24 p.p. from 6.79% in 1Q19 to 7.03% in 2Q19. Employment in Chile grew at a year-over-year rate of 1.26%, an acceleration of 0.51 p.p. from the previous quarter.
• The Chilean peso depreciated against the U.S. dollar compared to the previous quarter. The average exchange rate of the Chilean peso was 683.94 $CLP/USD in 2Q19, 16.93 pesos per dollar more than in the previous quarter.
• In 2Q19, the change in the price index stood at 2.63%, after an acceleration of 0.33 percentage points compared to 1Q19.  

For more information, click here to access the executive document in pdf (only avalaible in Spanish).