Argentina’s unemployment rate increased to 7.8 percent in the first quarter of 2026, as reported. This marks a modest rise from 7.5 percent in the last quarter of the previous year, yet remains slightly lower than the 7.9 percent observed in the corresponding period of 2025. The figures, drawn from INDEC’s Permanent Household Survey (Encuesta Permanente de Hogares) across 31 urban agglomerations, indicate that the number of individuals without employment stands at 1.1 million – encompassing those who are available to work and are actively seeking employment. The agency observed, however, that neither the quarterly nor the year-on-year variation reached statistical significance. Activity and employment rates remained stable, recorded at 48.6 percent and 44.8 percent respectively, with a total of 13.5 million individuals employed nationwide.
INDEC reported that of a total of 30.1 million people counted across the country (63.4 percent), 51.4 percent (15.5 million) are classified as part of the inactive population – indicating they are neither employed nor actively pursuing employment – while 48.6 percent (14.6 million) constitute the Economically Active Population, which includes those who hold at least one job or, if not employed, are actively seeking work and are available to engage in employment. The employment rate was recorded at 44.8 percent, representing 13.5 million individuals engaged in at least one job for a minimum of one hour. Regarding the unemployment rate, there are 1.1 million individuals without employment, accounting for 7.8 percent of the economically active population. These individuals are currently unemployed but are actively looking for work and are prepared to accept employment opportunities.
Among the 13.5 million individuals in employment, a notable 71.8 percent are classified as salaried workers, amounting to approximately 9.7 million individuals. Within this group, 62.1 percent have pension contributions deducted, while 37.9 percent do not. Among the self-employed and non-salaried, comprising 28.2 percent or 3.8 million individuals, 85.5 percent operate independently, 13 percent are employed by an employer, and 1.1 percent serve as unpaid family workers. As is often the case, INDEC’s employment report underscores the considerable magnitude of Argentina’s “black” or “off the books” economy – only 55.7 percent of workers are formally employed, while 44.2 percent are engaged informally. In a separate report, the Buenos Aires City government indicated that 13.5 percent of the capital’s active population was seeking employment in the first quarter.
IDECBA, City Hall’s data institute, reported that 136,500 individuals were unemployed from January to March, accounting for 7.9 percent of the economically active population in the capital. That represented a modest increase of merely 0.1 points compared to 2025. In comparison to the fourth quarter of the previous year, unemployment increased by 0.6 percentage points from 7.3% of the economically active population, which at that time corresponded to 126,000 individuals lacking registered employment.