Page "Economy of Chile" Paragraph 42

Unemployment hovered at 8 %- 10 % after the start of the economic slowdown in 1999, above the 7 % average for the 1990s.

Unemployment finally dipped to 7. 8 % in 2006, and continued to fall in 2007, averaging 6. 8 % monthly ( up to August ).

Wages have risen faster than inflation as a result of higher productivity, boosting national living standards.

The percentage of Chileans with household incomes below the poverty line – defined as twice the cost of satisfying a person's minimal nutritional needs – fell from 45. 1 % in 1987 to 13. 7 % in 2006, according to government polls.

Critics in Chile, however, argue that poverty figures are considerably higher than those officially published.

( The government constructs the poverty line based on an outdated 1987 household consumption poll, instead of more recent polls from 1997 or 2007 ).

According to these critics who use data from the 1997 poll, the poverty rate rises to 29 %.

Using the relative yardstick favoured in many European countries, 27 % of Chileans would be poor, according to Juan Carlos Feres of the ECLAC.