This approach enables detailed analysis not only of the magnitude of poverty, but also of its intensity and its distinctive features in different groups, while also guiding the formulation of poverty reduction policies that dovetail better with comprehensive policies in support of well-being. Despite modest economic growth, employment rose on the back of job creation, absorbing the slight rise in the labour force participation rate and allowing unemployment to edge down from 6.7% to 6.4%, its lowest level in recent decades (ECLAC/ILO, 2013). The purchasing power of average wages held steady or rose in most countries with available information, in keeping with low inflation, the simple average of which fell from 7.1% in 2011 to 5.4% in 2012. In absolute numbers, 164 million people were poor, of which 66 million were extremely poor (see figure 1).