Panama’s labor force has reached a record low, but it’s also been hit hard by the economic crisis.
The Panama Economic Community (PEC) has been struggling to cope with the fallout from a sharp decline in oil prices and a slowing economy.
The country has lost more than 1 million jobs, according to a recent survey by the PanAmPost.
The numbers are particularly stark in the capital, Panama City, where nearly a quarter of the population is unemployed.
The unemployment rate stands at 16.5 percent, while the labor force participation rate is 66.7 percent.
The jobless rate is lower than the EU average of 73.3 percent, but is higher than the U.S. average of 50.2 percent.
In addition, the country is the only one of Panama’s 26 Central American countries to experience an inflation rate below the official inflation rate of 1.5%.
Inflation has been at a historically high level of more than 300 percent since mid-2014, with the country’s central bank raising interest rates in June.
The labor force Participation rate is currently 62.4 percent, according the PEC.
Panama has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.
With the economy in free fall, more and more people are relying on public assistance to help them survive.
The government estimates that over half of the country lives on less than $1.20 a day, and the median income for families is just $40,000.
That is only slightly better than the $40 per month that Panamaians are currently earning.
However, the unemployment rate is much higher than that.
According to the Pec, the labor participation rate for the country stands at 72.7, a far cry from the 65.3% unemployment rate recorded during the Great Recession.
“The unemployment rate in Panama is very high.
We are in a situation that we cannot escape.
It is not possible to make the transition to a new economy,” said Alejandro Castro, president of the Panama Chamber of Commerce.
Many are hoping to take advantage of the low unemployment rate, but many of them also need the job.
“I am trying to find a job to survive, and I am not able to,” said Maria Lourdes Mendoza, who lives in the Panamanian capital.
“There are only so many jobs available and if I don’t find a good one, I will probably have to stay in Panama.”
The government also recently announced plans to create an online portal to help the unemployed find work, but there are still a number of hurdles to overcome.
“For us, the first step is to find an employment.
The second step is finding a place to live,” said Francisco Guzman, the head of the Ministry of Employment.
In the meantime, many are hoping that the Panama Canal will be reopened to foreign tourists, which has already been delayed by the countrys economic crisis and by the recent closure of the PEMEX exchange.
“We will see a lot of foreign tourists now that there is more opportunity,” said Mendoze.
“This could be a turning point for Panama.”
