Clear Accounts / Postgraduate degrees gain weight in the labor market

Cuentas Claras, the weekly column by Mauricio Galindo, economics editor of EL TIEMPO, offers interesting figures surrounding the news that occurred in the last seven days.

The situation that led to the rice strike has a symptom felt by households: falling rice prices at the market. According to DANE (National Agricultural Development Agency), rice was paid 3.8% less in June than a year earlier. So far this year, the price for families has dropped 1.5%, and in June alone, it fell 0.5% compared to May. Rice is the fourth most important food item in household spending, after meat, chicken, and milk.

With the annual increase in production recorded in May, the industry completes a year of ups and downs in its growth. The truth is that after the 3% variation observed in the fifth month of the year compared to a year earlier, industrial production still needs an additional 6.3% growth to match what it produced almost three years ago. The highest level of production was seen in August 2022.

For several years, the number of workers with a completed degree or postgraduate degree has been higher than those currently pursuing or completing higher education. At the end of 2018, people with between 12 and 15 years of education accounted for 19.1% of workers, higher than the 18.8% of those with 16 or more years of education. However, the former now represents 18.2%, and the latter, 20.4%.

The presidential visit to Haiti ranks as the ninth most fragile state in the world, according to the index by the American think tank Fund for Peace. Of the ten dimensions of the index, the worst for Haiti is state legitimacy. On the list, Colombia is the 63rd most fragile state, out of 179 (Norway, of course, is last, and Somalia, first). The worst dimension for Colombia is elite fragmentation.