Panama’s unemployment rate has climbed to 7.1% with 146,111 seeking work , says a report by the Comptroller General published this week.

Last year, there were 118,888 unemployed people in the country, which means that in a year at least 28,000 peole have  joined the ranks of the unemployed with jobs in the hotel and restaurant industry particularly hard hit  by the fall off in tourism.

The workforce also grew by 80,000 from 1,986,000 to 2, 066 000, (80,000 more) between August 2018 and the same month this year.

The majority of the unemployed seek employment on average four times a month, without success, according to the Comptroller's report.