According to RIPTE, salaries rose 16.1% nominally, against an inflation of 8.8%. It is worth clarifying, however, that it has been the least reliable indicator to show what is really happening with workers’ income.
The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Security, which depends on the Ministry of Human Capital, published this Friday the variation of the Average Taxable Remuneration of Stable Workers (RIPTE) corresponding to April. The data showed that Real salaries, according to this indicator, grew for the second consecutive month, although they were still far from reaching the value prior to Javier Milei’s inauguration.
The RIPTE advanced 16.1% to $819.51.72 in the fourth month of the year, against an inflation that was 8.8% in the same period. However, since November 2023 the adjustment was 83%, while prices increased almost 107% in the same period, which is equivalent to a deterioration of 11% in the real income of workers in recent months.
It is worth clarifying that specialists usually clarify that the RIPTE has been the least reliable indicator to show what is happening with salaries. This occurs, on the one hand, because does not capture non-remunerative conceptswhich today have a very important weight in many collective agreements.
But also, unlike the SIPA data, the RIPTE It does not use gross or net salary information as a reference, but rather arises from the base considered for social security contributions, which today have a limit that is updated every three months.. The latter caused that in the first months of the year the increases in the RIPTE were much lower than those shown by the SIPA or the INDEC salary index. In April, with the adjustment in retirements, this situation may change.
What is RIPTE, how is it calculated and what problems does its use entail?
RIPTE is defined as the average remuneration subject to contributions to the Argentine Integrated Pension System (SIPA) received by workers who are under a dependency relationship and who have been declared continuously during the last 13 months.
The variations in the RIPTE intervene in the calculation of retirement mobility (in July this ceases to apply) of the General Regime of the Argentine Integrated Pension System (SIPA) and in the calculation of compensation for work accidents.
The Ministry of Labor clarifies on its website that the indicator was developed as an input to determine retirement mobility but “does not necessarily reflect the evolution of salaries in private registered employment” because it excludes: a) the salaries of the most new b) the non-remunerative components of the salary c) the surplus between salaries and the maximum salary amount defined for personal contributions to the social security system.
Source: Ambito
