The unemployment rate in Argentina fell during the second quarter, despite the fact that the country’s overall economic activity witnessed a modest reduction during that same period. As a result of this new development, job searchers and President Javier Milei, who is presently dealing with a number of difficulties, will experience a brief moment of satisfaction.
The unemployment rate in Argentina’s formal labor market dropped to 7.6 percent during the period of April to June, according to data. This is a decline from 7.9 percent during the previous quarter. Despite the fact that economists anticipated a moderate increase in gross domestic product during the quarter, the unemployment rate remained unchanged in comparison to the previous year. This coincided with a decrease in the gross domestic product for the quarter. During the second quarter of the year, Argentina saw an increase of 178,000 informal jobs, which is a concerning development. On the other hand, the country only saw a gain of 45,000 official positions, as indicated by the data.
The reduction in the unemployment rate is a significant achievement for Milei, especially when considering the multiple problems that were encountered over a month before the midterm elections. An in-depth analysis, investors see whether or not the libertarian leader is capable of increasing his influence in Congress in order to facilitate the implementation of additional market-friendly legislation. In September, Milei’s disapproval rating reached levels that had never been seen before, which coincided with the most significant election setback that his party had ever had in Buenos Aires Province. As a consequence of this, there has been a significant reduction in the value of the Argentine currency on the market, as well as a significant sell-off of Argentine bonds overall. On Wednesday, the losses became more severe as a result of the intervention of the Central Bank to strengthen the peso, which had reached the top limit of a trading band that had been established by the government within the framework of its agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which was worth twenty billion dollars.
The considerable austerity measures that were adopted at the beginning of his presidency have not yet caused the labor market to recover, despite the fact that unemployment rates have decreased after they were introduced. It is estimated that the formal private sector labor market in Argentina has witnessed a decrease of around 101,000 jobs since he took office. This represents a reduction of two percent of the total employment data. The manufacturing and construction industries are at the vanguard of job losses among various industries, according to unique labor figures that were issued by the government through the month of June from the beginning of the year.