Abstract
The crisis caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had severe repercussions on the region’s economy and labour markets in 2020. The year ended with a 7.1% decline in GDP, which translated into a sharp drop in employment and an increase in the unemployment rate, to 10.5%. Unlike in previous crises, withdrawal from the labour market was high, primarily in the second quarter of 2020, and the contraction in informal employment was greater than that of formal employment.