QUITO, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador registered an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent in June, the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) said on Monday.

The figure was 4.6 percent in December 2017.

Meanwhile, the rate of unemployment was at 5.2 percent at the urban level and 2 percent at the rural level.

"The variations at the national, urban and rural areas, with respect to June 2017 were not statistically significant," the INEC said.

The agency added that 70.5 percent of the country's more than 16 million inhabitants are at a working age, with 66.4 percent economically active.

According to the INEC, poverty by income was at 24.5 percent, while extreme poverty hit 9 percent in June.

In Ecuador, a person is considered poor if he or she earns less than 84.72 U.S. dollars a month, and those earning less than 47.74 dollars a month are considered in extreme poverty.