Consumption continues to fall. This is confirmed by supermarket sources: for May they have preliminary data that records a down 2.4%. In this context, although the sector does not dare to talk about layoffs, they do warn about the increase in what they call “idle positions”.
While May could yield a inflation level close to 5% According to the estimate of private consultants, the sale of supermarket items continued to decline. This is highlighted by sources from the sector, who calculate a negative record year-on-year. estimated between 10 and 11%.
The data is known in the midst of the food increase recorded with greater force during the last week of May. According to the consulting firm LCG, the weekly variation in food prices was 1.8%the highest since the third week of April.
In the disaggregated, drinks and infusions to consume marked an increase in the last week of 4.1%while meats – which represent 30% of the basic basket – advanced one 3.6% and the oils 3.1%. The price of fruits, for their part, fell by 0.9%, vegetables by 2.4%, while dairy and eggs fell by 1.9%.
Consumption in decline
The preliminary interannual data for May barely showed an improvement compared to the previous month. According to Scentia data, Sales fell 13.8% in April compared to the same month of the previous year. At that time, the data marked an acceleration of the collapse that had been 3.8% in January, 4.1% in February and 7.5% in March.
A sector source relativizes the dynamic by emphasizing that “There is a slowdown in the fall, but we are starting from a very low base”. According to the representative of the sector, the cut in the drop in consumption should have been greater, considering that during May the Hot Sale, the e-commerce event organized by the Argentine Chamber of Commerce, was held. However, the lack of impulse for consumption is so great that it is evident in the numbers offered by the market.
In any case, for another source, the April-May intermonthly comparison is inaccurate, mainly because during the fourth month the long Easter weekend, which lasted five days, is contemplated against the May 25 holiday, which fell one Saturday.
Likewise, it is unobjectionable that both accumulated in the year and year-on-year, the reduction in consumption alerts supermarkets. “They are desperate to find the green shoot, but none of them think about how to motorize it”, reflects the source.
“For the chains in the top 10 it gives -2.4 as of May 26 and we do not believe that the trend has been reversed in 5 days, because although there is closure of cards, the lady’s wallet and the gentleman’s pocket were emptied by the invisible hand of the market,” they detail from the supermarket.
In that sense, the sector cannot guarantee that it will be exempt from the reduction in the payroll of workers, a concern that is increasing as the effects of the economic recession take hold. “Obviously, as activity decreases, there begin to be idle jobs.”“, they warn. However, they clarify that supermarkets still do not resort to layoffs, but neither do they replace those workers who retire because they retire, due to a dismissal with cause, because they resign or due to other types of issues.
Likewise, they conclude with a warning for the medium term: “If we continue with the trend we are in, obviously the drop in activity always has a negative consequence on maintaining employment, unfortunately”.
Source: Ambito
