Data shows 185,000 jobs lost in Milei’s first 12 months

More than 185,000 formal jobs were lost in the first 12 months of President Javier Milei’s government amid widespread austerity, spending cuts and the halting of all public works projects.

According to data from the Labour Secretariat spanning December 2023 to November 2024, registered private-sector employment fell by 119,000, dropping from 6.38 million to 6.26 million workers.

Meanwhile, public-sector employment shrank by 51,000 (from 3,484,000 to 3,433,000), with domestic workers also falling by 15,000 (from 464,000 to 449,000).

By contrast, the number of self-employed workers under the monotributo self-employed scheme increased, but by 25,000 (from 2,037,000 to 2,062,000).

The total number of registered workers declined from 13.39 million to 13.28 million, according to data from the Secretariat, which now falls under the Human Capital Ministry.

No signs of recovery?

In November 2023, registered employment declined by 0.1 percent on a monthly basis, equating to 16,500 fewer workers. Coming on the back of a similar drop in October, data indicates that while there has been a slowdown in job losses, a recovery is not yet evident.

Formal employment has either contracted or stagnated in 11 of the first 12 months of the Milei administration, which took place in December 2023.

Private-sector job creation in November amounted to just 2,400 new positions.

The report highlights that formal employment growth over the past four months has been “modest” compared to the sharp contractions seen in previous months.

In other words, while the economy is beginning to recover, this has not yet translated into increased labour demand.

Formal employment continues to fluctuate on a month-to-month basis and has yet to stabilise. While net job creation accelerated in September and October compared to August, it slowed again in December, returning to levels similar to those recorded in August, the report states.

According to data from the Labour Indicators Survey (EIL), private-sector employment fell by 0.2 percent in December compared to the previous month, a drop authorities attributed to “seasonal factors.”

The report also notes that private-sector employment grew slightly only in the manufacturing industry (0.1 percent) yet remained stagnant in trade, restaurants, and hotels (zero percent). 

Decreases were seen in transport, financial services, and social services (ranging between zero and minus 0.5 percent), though fell most sharply in construction (minus 1.9 percent).

The Labour Secretariat report also reveals that from December 2023 to October 2024, average registered salaries saw year-on-year variations that ran below inflation in every month. It was only in November that wage growth outpaced inflation for the first time.

The average gross nominal salary in November 2024 was a monthly 1.4 million pesos, reflecting a 172.8 percent increase compared to the same month the previous year, while inflation stood at 166 percent over the same period.

– TIMES/NA