Fenalco Bogotá says eight out of ten jobs lost during the pandemic have recovered in the country

The director of Fenalco Bogotá-Cundinamarca, Juan Esteban Orrego, gave a positive balance of the trade sector in the country by ensuring that, two years after the covid-19 pandemic, a good part of the sales and jobs lost during the health crisis has been recovered.

According to Orrego, after mandatory quarantines and the total reactivation of the country's economy, employment in the trade sector “has already recovered by 80%, and eight out of ten jobs lost during the pandemic have already recovered.”

The director of Fenalco Bogotá then pointed out that these good figures were also reflected in the latest report by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane), in which it was announced that, in January alone, retail sales grew by 20.9% throughout Colombia compared to the same period of time in 2021.

Likewise, the union highlighted “the excellent results of Bogotá and Cundinamarca” where, according to Orrego, the increase in sales was 37% and 25.6% respectively, results that rated as the best in the region as they were “well above the national average”.

On the other hand, Orrego said that the days without VAT have also boosted trade in the country and in Bogotá, noting that during the first day of discounts this year, which took place last Friday, March 11, sales in the city “were 0.04% above the first day”.

The director of Fenalco Bogotá also argued that face-to-face participation has also been key in the recovery of the country's commercial sector, indicating that during the month of January, sales were driven by the purchase of school supplies, footwear and clothing.

On this point, it should be recalled that, according to data from the Single National Traffic Registry (Runt) known by the magazine Semana, the extension of the peak and plate caused the purchase of vehicles in Bogotá to increase by 7.6% so far this year, while, in the case of motorcycles, the figure increased by 35.9%.

In that vein, the union leader indicated that, despite the fact that traders did not have such positive expectations, the results showed that the sector started with very good figures in 2022. In this regard, the director of Fenalco Bogotá pointed out that the challenge they face from now on is to ensure the full recovery of trade for the rest of the year, driven especially by the two days of the day without VAT that remain pending.

“The fact that it is an election year always generates uncertainty and if we add global events and crises to this , expectations are likely to remain very reserved. That is why these results are great news for traders and for citizens in general”, concluded the union leader.

KEEP READING