Wages outpaced inflation in May for the second consecutive month. However, they have not yet recovered from the devaluation in December.
The real salary of registered salaried workers in the private sector fell by 4.6% in the first six months of Javier Milei’s GovernmentAlthough income improved in May for the second consecutive month, it has still not managed to recover what was lost following the sharp devaluation in December.
According to data from the Argentine Integrated Pension System (SIPA), the income of employees with higher levels of formality in the economy increased by 4.9% nominally in the fifth month of the year, against an inflation that was 4.2% in the same period. According to the survey, the average salary, without seasonality, rose to $1,063,696.
It is worth remembering that the discreet jump in the exchange rate approved by the new Government a few hours after taking office generated an acceleration of inflation, causing a real collapse of 11.3% in wages.
From there, real wages rebounded by 7.5%which is why they are still below the November level. The situation is worrying since in the previous 12 months, revenues had already lost 1.5% in real terms.
Compared to 2017, before the start of the last major crisis that is still having an impact on workers, wages are around 20% lower.
Employment fell again in May
Since Milei came to power, the problems of inflation and the deterioration of real wages, which were his precedents, were joined by the unemployment problem.
Between November and May, more than 175,000 salaried jobs were lost in the private sectorSpecifically, there were 123,123 fewer jobs in the private sector, in net terms, 36,900 in the State and 15,700 among domestic workers.
At the sectoral level, Construction was the sector that lost the most jobsalthough the contraction slowed in May. In contrast, declines in the manufacturing industry, the second most affected sector, remained at the same level.
Source: Ambito
