He National Institute of Statistics (INE) announced today the Average Salary Index (IMS) corresponding to November, which rose 9.13% compared to the same month last year and, given that the inflation in the period was almost 5%, the real salary increase is almost 4% in the moving year to November, thus reaching a new historical maximum for the month of November, according to the official statistical record (see graph).
Taking the annual accumulated, that is, the first 11 months of the year, the real salary has increased 3.7% compared to the same period of the previous year, and equals the record reached in 2019. To this we must add that in 2023 the rate of employment average is 1.3 points above that recorded in that year prior to the pandemic.
The increase in the real salary It is due – to a large extent – to the official policy of establishing a recovery process after the post-pandemic salary drop and bringing salaries to the levels prior to the arrival of the virus. Simultaneously, the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU) has defined a contractionary monetary policy that pushed back the inflation.
In this way, with increasingly higher nominal wages, and a inflation which is decreasing, the real salary shows particularly strong progress in the last year, reaching new records.
The recovery of salaries by sectors
According to the report of INE, In the last year there was a very strong recovery in the real salary of the sectors that had been particularly affected by the pandemic. This is the case of the sector Hotels and restaurants, which has had a real salary increase of 5.4% in the last year.
It is followed by the sector of construction, that although it took a while to finalize the salary agreement, with a conflict that lasted several days, once established it established increases that carry the real salary in the sector to be 4.8% above what was recorded a year ago.
The industry has also had a notable real increase, of just over 4%, while in the sector health The real increase has been somewhat lower than that figure. Teaching and commerce They have also had real increases, although somewhat less than 3% in the last year. In any case, all sectors have had real increases.
When analyzing what happens in the State, Central government workers have had the largest increase in real wages: 5.3%. Taking the state sector as a whole – including municipalities and state companies – the real increase in salaries is 4.5% annually, higher than that of non-state workers (who are the majority) who had an average increase of 3.5%. 8% real.
What will happen to retirements?
With the report released today, the INE also updated the Average Nominal Wage Index (IMSN) which is the indicator used to adjust the retirements. This index rose 8.39% in the first 11 months of 2023, and that will be the provisional increase.
The increase will be applied to January pensions (which are paid in February) and will be completed and corrected for February pensions (which are collected in March), when the closing data for 2023 is available. In the case of retirements and minimum pensions, who had a 3% advance in July, the difference between the aforementioned 8.39% and 3% will be adjusted.
Source: Ambito
