Argentina's official poverty index in the second half of 2016 dropped to 30.3%, an estimated 12.7 million people, from 32.2% in the first half according to the country's stats office Indec. The 30.3% index includes 6.1% of indigence, which is also below the 6.3% of the first half. The drop means that 800.000 people are no longer in the poverty category index.
Argentina's unemployment rate fell to 7.6% in the fourth quarter of 2016, the government's Indec statistics agency said in a report on Thursday, down from 8.5% in the third quarter as thousands of people stopped looking for work.
Argentina urban poverty rate rose to 32.9% in the third quarter of 2016, which means 13 million people due to a precarious labor market and lack of long-term development policies, according to a report presented last week by the Social Debt Observatory from the Argentine Catholic University (UCA).
Half the Argentine labor force employed was making at the end of the third quarter a monthly average of 9.000 Pesos, equivalent approximately to US$ 565, while the poorest 10% averaged 2.500 Pesos (approx US$ 165) and the richest 10%, anywhere from 20.000 to 250.000 Pesos (US$ 1.250 to 15.000) a month, according the revamped Argentine stats and census office, Indec.
Nearly one-third of Argentina’s population lives in poverty, the government said on Wednesday in the first official poverty data published in three years, underscoring the difficulty of reaching President Mauricio Macri’s stated “zero poverty” goal. The ranks of the poor surveyed in Argentina totaled 8.8 million people, or 32.2% of the population in 31 urban areas surveyed.
An Argentine average household made up of a couple with two children 6 and 8 years old needs 12.489 Pesos (approx US$ 820) to remain above the poverty line according to the stats office, Indec estimate for the month of August. The same household will have to pay 5.176 Pesos (approx US$ 340) for the Basic food basket, not to drop to indigence.
An IMF mission started on Monday a round of meetings with the purpose of rebuilding relations with Argentina, frozen for over a decade. The mission headed by economist Roberto Cardarelli began early Monday visiting the Argentine Industrial Union, UIA, the country's manufacturers main lobby.
Inflation in Argentina during the current month of August could drop to 0.7% because of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the hikes in natural gas prices for residential users, according to the official stats office Indec. Similar stats also indicate a strong contraction of the Argentine economy.
President Mauricio Macri expressed concern that Argentina's employment rate barely exceeds 40% and criticized previous administrations for creating 750,000 government jobs to hide what he said was its inability to grow the economy.
Argentina had 9.3% unemployment in the second quarter of the year, the government's Indec statistics agency said in a report on Tuesday. It was the first official unemployment data to be published by Argentina since Mauricio Macri became president in December.