Inflation doubles almost the increase in wages | The pr …

Salaries improved by 23.7% in September over the last twelve months. Official data show the deep fall of workers' purchasing power. During the same period, inflation rose by 40.5%, in line with the exchange rate and rising rates. The loss of purchasing power accentuates the recession induced by the fiscal and monetary adjustment agreed with the IMF.

Figures released today by the Indec show that private sector wages rose by 25.3% in September compared to the same period last year, while employee income the public sector posted an increase of 23.0% over the previous year. According to the statistical agency, the wages of undeclared workers, the most vulnerable sector, registered an increase of 20.6%. The loss of purchasing power results in a contraction in private consumption, the main component of GDP.

In September, Indec measured a general price increase of 6.5%. Although this figure is lower than various private estimates, this figure corresponds to the highest official inflation mark disseminated during the management of Cambiemos, in April 2016, itself the highest since April 2002, in full release of the scheme. of convertibility.

With this mark, prices rose 32.4% in nine months, while the wage index has only grown by 18.6% during this period. The difference of 13.7 percentage points reveals the limited extent of the 5,000 pesos bonus for private sector workers promoted by the government. For private sector workers, wage increases between January and September were 20.5%, government employees calculated a change of 19.1% and income of non-registered workers increased by 13%, 5%.

The unprecedented decline in employee purchasing power is accompanied by a continuing process of job destruction in higher-paying activities, such as the industry. The Ministry of Labor has acknowledged that 107,300 jobs in the manufacturing sector have been phased out since Macri took office. This figure represents 8.5% of the number of factory workers that existed at the end of 2015. In the first nine months of 2018, 42,200 manufacturing positions were eliminated.

The loss of purchasing power affects not only the living conditions of the workers, but also the industrial enterprises whose production depends on domestic consumption. The scenario is not new, the recorded industrial activities fall in 33 of the 34 months of change management covered by official statistics. Thus, the number of workers in the industry is the lowest in nine years.