July 18, 2016
A total of 66,404 Argentine workers have lost jobs in the public sector, including nearly 2,000 in the Senate, in the first six months of Macri’s presidency.
Mass layoffs in Argentina since conservative President Mauricio Macri took office last December exceeded 179,000 in the public and private sector by the end of June, according to the
latest data from Argentina’s Center for Political Economy known as CEPA.
Since Macri’s inauguration on Dec. 10, 2015, a total of 179,285 workers have lost their jobs, according to CEPA statistics. Nearly 40 percent of the job losses, or 66,404, were in the public sector, while 112,881 workers were fired in the private sector.
The month of June alone say nearly 12,000 total layoffs — 2,448 in the public sector and 9,273 in the private sector — representing a 7 percent increase compared to a year ago in the month of May.
Unsurprisingly, joblessness has emerged as the number one worry among Argentines in recent polls, surpassing public concerns about corruption and inflation. Poll results from the Argentine newspaper Pagina 12 in May found that half of Argentina’s population feels that they or a member of their family may be at risk of losing their job.
Compounding the job losses is the wider austerity campaign that has seen the price of utilities skyrocket by nearly 700 percent, while inflation has soared to record levels in recent months.
Source: Telesur