MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

An average Argentine worker earns US$ 482/month, Indec says

Overall, there are about 4.7 million people actively looking for a job in Argentina's complex labor market, the Indec survey found

Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec) Permanent Household Survey (EPH) released this week showed that the average income per worker in Argentina during the third quarter of 2024 amounted to AR$ 588,011 (nearly US$ 482 at Friday's unofficial exchange rate, also referred to as “blue,” which is a euphemism for “black market”).

Last month, an individual needed AR$ 344,536 not to be deemed “poor,” while a household of three would have to have over AR$ 822,958, and AR$ 1,087,241 were required in the case of a standard four-member family to cross that threshold.

The study also detected that despite Milei's achievements in curbing inflation, poverty keeps deepening as the average per capita family income was AR$ 393,767 and the overall average income reached AR$ 619,602.

The Indec also spotted a 27.9% gender income gap, with men earning an average of AR$ 720,852 and women AR$ 519,897. In addition, unemployment hits particularly young people aged between 18 and 24,m the Indec also noted.

The Gini coefficient measuring inequality rose from 0.434 to 0.454. This index shows the levels of social inequality: the closer it is to 1, the wider unequally a given society is.

The province of Buenos Aires ruled by opposition leader Axel Kicillof topped the unemployment rankings with 8.3% (or 700,000 people) in the third quarter of 2024. Tierra del Fuego stood right behind at 8.1% and Chaco (7.1%) came in third. Also showing reasonably high unemployment rates were Tucumán (6.8%), Santa Cruz (6.7%), Córdoba (6.4%), La Pampa (6.4%), and Neuquén (5.8%). The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Santiago del Estero (2%) and Chubut (2.9%).

Nationwide, the Indec said unemployment stood at 6.4%, affecting 1.3 million people in urban areas where 42.9 million live and 20.3 million are economically active. Hence, 19 million have a job and 1.3 million are actively looking for one but cannot find it. This result was one p.p. higher than a year before. The country's 31 main urban areas represent 29.6 million people.

In the third quarter of 2023, unemployment in the province of Buenos Aires - not to be mistaken for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) - stood at 6.4% (1.9 percentage points lower than today), thus trailing Tierra del Fuego (7.9%) and Entre Ríos (6.6%).

The government agency also made a distinction between labor income and non-labor income. The first group accounted for 76.1% of total income, and the second for the remaining 23.9%.

Besides that, 2.3 million people are underemployed (working less than 35 hours per week and are willing to work more), and 3.4 million are employed job seekers (they have a job but are actively looking for another occupation). Overall, there are about 4.7 million people actively looking for a job in Argentina's complex labor market.

Meanwhile, the Libertarian Government insists that the worst part of the recession is over and projects the country's economy to grow 5% this year.