The Evaluation and Monitoring Committee of the Productive Recovery Program II (Repro II) highlighted that the level of employment registered in January of this year turned out to be “the maximum value” in the last 10 years.
“The total number of people with registered work reached 12.4 million and is 2.7% higher than that verified in February 2020. This level is the maximum value since the beginning of the series of total workers, in January 2012”, specified the Committee in its minutes number 17.
He indicated that “in January 2022, the process of recovery and growth of registered private employment observed in recent months continues and that accompanies the expansion of production, investment and consumption of the Argentine economy.”
Thus, he stressed that “this process is achieving continuity that extends over several months, resulting in growth in salaried employment and an improvement in labor indicators, among which the reduction in the unemployment rate stands out.”
According to the administrative records of the Argentine Integrated Social Security System (SIPA), registered salaried employment grew 0.5%. This variation means that 29,000 people entered registered salaried employment. In addition, the number of registered employees in the private sector was 0.9% higher in January compared to the situation in February 2020 (51,000 more jobs), when the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic had not yet begun to manifest in the national territory.
For its part, the Survey of Labor Indicators (EIL) registered a monthly growth of private employment in the private sector during February of this year of 0.3% in relation to the previous month. In year-on-year terms, employment growth of 1.3% is observed.
“The high levels of entry and exit rates of employment in companies reflect the greater dynamism observed in the labor market”, affirmed the Committee, while highlighting “the dynamics of the business services sector with a monthly growth of 1.5%”.
In addition, he indicated that “construction also showed significant dynamism of 1.2%”, although he pointed out that “the hotel and restaurant sector, which was greatly affected during the pandemic, is still at a lower level of employment than that observed in the month before the outbreak of Covid-19”.
However, he stressed that “to the extent that restrictions on movement were relaxed and progress was made in vaccinating the population and added to the implementation of the Previaje program, the activity showed an increase in employment, in seasonally adjusted terms, of 0 .9%”.
He also pointed out that “the dynamics of trade, given its importance in employment, is relevant to understand the dynamics of formal salaried employment as a whole”, and specified that “this sector registers eight consecutive months of growth, equaling the level of May 2019 “.
Likewise, he highlighted that “the industry registered a growth of 0.3% and accumulated 20 months of consecutive growth in employment,” and stated that “it reached a level similar to that of January 2019.”
“In turn, a group of sectors presented a monthly fall in employment. Within this group are teaching (-0.4%), financial intermediation (-0.3%), mining and quarrying (-0, 1%) and community, social and personal services (-0.1%), “he concluded.
