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According to Indec, in July wages were 3.5 points higher than inflation - Infobae
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Según el Indec, en julio los salarios le ganaron por 3,5 puntos a la inflación
Tanto los trabajadores del sector privado formal, como los estatales y los empleados que se encuentran en negro tuvieron ajustes superiores al IPC del séptimo mes del año
www.infobae.com
September 26, 2024
Both formal private sector workers, state workers and employees who are in the black had adjustments higher than the CPI of the seventh month of the year
All branches of workers (formal, informal and state) managed to regain purchasing power (REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas)
Workers' wages rose by an average of 7.5% in July, exceeding inflation in the seventh month of the year by 3.5 percentage points, according to figures released by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec).
On this occasion, all branches of workers (formal, informal and state) managed to recover purchasing power. Employees in the formal private sector had a salary increase of 6.3% (against a CPI of 4%), those in the public sector had an average increase of 6.7% and informal workers achieved an average increase of 15.1%.
However, not everyone is beating inflation in the accumulated total of the first seven months of the year. According to Indec, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 87% between January and July, a value that exceeds the salary increase of state workers by 2.1 points. Informal workers (their salaries increased 95.4% nominally in the year) and employees of the registered private sector (105.8%) are above inflation.
Of course, none of the categories of workers have yet been able to recover all the ground lost during the last months of last year. In fact, if we analyze the year-on-year comparisons, we find overwhelming differences in favor of inflation. Between July 2023 and the same month this year, the CPI had an increase of 263.4% and none of the branches of work even comes close to that value. In detail, the salaries of formal workers advanced 235.1% in that period, followed by informal workers (178.9) and state workers (170%).
Closer or further from poverty?
On Thursday, a truly alarming result was released regarding poverty levels in the country. According to the INDEC, more than one in two Argentines are poor and 18.1% are destitute. This is no small fact, considering that it is precisely the salary level, compared to the cost of a basic basket, that determines which families are poor and which are not.
Based on the results mentioned above, with inflation rising far above wages over the course of the last twelve months, the increase in poverty levels was to be expected. Now, what might happen in the future? The truth is that we will have to wait for the next poverty report to know exactly, but an analysis of some economic variables can give an indication of what is expected for the second half of the year. Specifically, the evolution of wages should be compared with the increase in the Total Basic Basket (CBT) and the Basic Food Basket (CBA) .
In summary, the wage index grew by 98.1% in the first seven months of the year. In that period of time, the CBT increased by 81.7%, which means that workers regained purchasing power in relation to the products and services that make up a basic basket. It is important to remember that the CBT measures the total expenses that a typical family must make to cover 100% of its needs for a month, so households with incomes below that value are considered “poor.”
Meanwhile, the CBA shows a variation of 68.6% in the period analyzed, a value that was also below the average increase in wages. In the case of the Basic Food Basket, the measurement determines the poverty line.
In short, taking into account the evolution of both variables during this year (wages and food baskets), it is expected that some families will emerge from poverty, at least temporarily. Of course, the truth will be revealed in the report of the Permanent Household Survey (EPH) that Indec will publish in a few months.
