Argentina’s economy shrinks 5.8% in first quarter of 2019

According to Argentina’s statistics agency, its economy shrank 5.8% in the first quarter of 2019 as a reflection of the recession that brought down domestic consumption and production in the country. Despite the sharp drop there was a slight improvement over the previous quarter, which was the weakest quarterly performance in a decade.  Argentina shrank 6.2% in the last quarter of 2018, shaken by a falling currency and unrestrained inflation.

A more detailed analysis of the country’s economic performance shows that agriculture and livestock actually grew 7.7% while fishing rose 5.5%. However, private consumption fell by 10.5% and public consumption by 0.2%. Exports rose by 1.7%, and imports fell by 24.6%.

Ecolatina consultants said that after the first quarter decline, there are signs that the recession has finally hit the bottom and that the economy could begin to recover, mainly because of good harvests and the competitiveness of the foreign currency. This is evident in the export sector which, although moderate, has been rising gradually in the last two quarters.

Unemployment rises to 10.1% in the first quarter

Another problem that haunts the country is unemployment. Argentina’s unemployment rate rose to 10.1% in the first quarter from 9.1% in the first three months of last year, according to state statistics agency INDEC. This is the highest level since the current president Mauricio Macri took office and the worst in thirteen years.

That means that there are 1.9m Argentinians without jobs, 220,000 more than a year ago. Including rural workers, the final number could be closer to 2m. Likewise, underemployment reached 11.8%, a 2% increase over the same period last year, when the figure was at 9.8%.

Source: Mercopress

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