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Montevideo, February 26th 2025 - 09:51 UTC

Economy

  • Tuesday, February 25th 2025 - 19:03 UTC

    Uruguay's INE reports unemployment on the rise

    Unemployment grew year-on-year despite the creation of 27,000 new jobs, the INE report found

    Uruguay's National Institute of Statistics (INE) released a report Tuesday showing that last month's unemployment rose from 7.4% to 8.1% from the previous month. However, this figure represented an interannual improvement against last year's 8.6%. Joblessness was not as harsh in Montevideo (7.1%) but it was indeed noticeable elsewhere in the South American country (8.7%). In addition, 21.3% of workers were detected not to be registered with social security authorities, which was tantamount to an increase in informality.

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  • Tuesday, February 25th 2025 - 10:42 UTC

    Fossil fuels will finance Brazil's energy transformation, Lula says

    As long as people cannot do without fossil fuels they shall remain necessary, Lula argued

    Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pointed out that his country would rely on fossil fuels to finance the transition to clean energy. He made those remarks during a contract signing ceremony with Transpetro and oil companies Rio Grande and Mac Laren.

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  • Tuesday, February 25th 2025 - 10:13 UTC

    Peru and Bolivia sign key bilateral agreements

    We are neighboring countries united by several elements, Sosa said during the ceremony in Lima

    Foreign Ministers Elmer Schialer of Peru and Celinda Sosa of Bolivia signed a series of agreements in Lima on Monday to strengthen ties between the two countries with a focus on cooperation and integration to promote the bilateral agenda. The understandings include a Temporary Border Module at the San Lorenzo (Peru)-Extrema (Bolivia) border crossing and the financing and Biennial Operating Plan 2025-2026 for the Binational Autonomous Authority of Lake Titicaca.

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  • Tuesday, February 25th 2025 - 09:44 UTC

    Starbucks announces large-scale staff downsizing

    The job cuts will not affect people working in the cafes or warehousing, manufacturing, distribution, and roasting operations, the company explained

    Arguably the world's most important coffee store chain, Starbucks announced Monday the termination of 1,100 corporate jobs, which are not the ones customers usually see in stores. CEO Brian Niccol said the measure was necessary to remove duplicate positions.

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  • Saturday, February 22nd 2025 - 09:51 UTC

    Milei tells IDB his government's achievements had to overcome a social justice mentality

    “There's always some mean-spirited jerk because whoever is doing this knows he's interrupting the talk,” said Milei about a ringing phone during his speech

    Argentine President Javier Milei highlighted Friday during his speech at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) headquarters in Washington DC that his administration's economic “achievements” had been attained despite the concept of “social justice” wielded under previous governments, which - in his view - is an “aberration.”

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  • Friday, February 21st 2025 - 19:37 UTC

    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”).

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  • Friday, February 21st 2025 - 09:45 UTC

    Paraguayan President celebrates drop in unemployment

    “In one year and 4 months of management we created in Paraguay 100,000 new jobs,” Peña underlined

    Paraguayan President Santiago Peña Thursday celebrated the creation of over 96,000 new jobs since the start of his administration, according to a study from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) released in Asunción which showed a significant increase from the third quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024, with major growth in commerce, restaurants, hotels, community services, and construction sectors.

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  • Friday, February 21st 2025 - 09:43 UTC

    No signs of imminent IMF disbursement after Milei meets with Georgieva

    The IMF told Milei it was concerned about certain policies undertaken by the Argentine government

    Argentine President Javier Milei met Thursday with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Washington, D.C., to discuss the South American country's stabilization and growth plan and advance negotiations for a new loan.

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  • Thursday, February 20th 2025 - 18:03 UTC

    Bolivian official warns against disinformation regarding lithium contracts

    “There is disinformation with political intentions, without any doubt,” Alcón argued

    Bolivia's Vice Minister of Communication Gabriela Alcón said this week that spreading misinformation about lithium contracts would result in delays to the mineral's industrialization in her country. She also underlined the importance of transparent communication about the documents currently being negotiated, which are beneficial for the state and involve a small portion of the nation's salt flats. Contracts with Russia's Uranium One Group and China's CBC from Hong Kong are expected to yield significant amounts of lithium carbonate, with investments totaling over US$ 2 billion.

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  • Thursday, February 20th 2025 - 16:23 UTC

    Price of eggs forces Trump to rehire fired bird flu experts; in NYC a dozen sells for over US$ 12

    As egg prices soar, grocers limit how many cartons customers can buy

    US President Donald Trump's administration is attempting to rehire officials with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) who worked on the government response to bird flu before being fired over the weekend, US media report.

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