“Worker inflation” was 6.3% in February and exceeded 100% in the last year

There was a slight recovery in wages in the last months of 2022, but they are still lower than the pre-pandemic. (Andean)

“Worker inflation” stood at 6.3% in February, accelerating by 0.8 percentage points compared to January. In this way, the interannual evolution of prices pierced three digits for the first time since the end of the hyperinflations of 1989-90, and stood at 101.8%”, according to the measurement of the Institute of Statistics of Workers ( IET) of the Metropolitan University for Education and Work (UMET) and the Center for Concertation and Development (CCD).

Also noteworthy is the fact that in the first two months of the year prices accumulated a rise of 12.1%. “If this rise is maintained throughout 2023, it would be compatible with an accumulated inflation of 98.9%,” indicated the specialists who prepared the report.

Inflation in the second month of the year was driven by the “education” category, which climbed 16%, coinciding with the start of the school year, which usually goes with adjustments in fees in private schools and increases in supplies.

In second place, the increase in “health” stood out (+6.9%), highlighting increases in prepaid (+8%). In third order, food rose 6.5%, driven by meat (+8.9%), fruit (+9.7%) and infusions (+9.9%).

It was followed in descending order by the “housing” category (+6.4%), which also rose above average, driven by rents, expenses and increases in electricity.

Below the general level are “communications” (+6.2%) and “transportation” (+5.9%, driven by zero kilometer vehicles, gasoline and lubricants). The items “home equipment” (+5.6%), “other goods and services” (+5.4%) and “recreation and culture” (+5%) also appear in this group.

Only the item “clothing and footwear” (+3.4%) rose below 5%, which shows that inflation has been generalized to the different items and with an inertia that is difficult to stop.

From the Metropolitan University for Education and Work they detail that, despite the economic plateau in recent months (indeed, the economy ended 2022 with a year-on-year drop in December), registered private salaried employment continues to expand, although at a lower rate. pace than in the first half of 2022.

Indeed, official statistics show that in December (last available month) 14,000 new salaried jobs were created in the registered private sector in relation to the previous month. In this way, employment has been recovering for 29 consecutive months, something that has not been observed since the end of the international crisis of 2009 (late 2009 to late 2011).

Employment is increasing at a faster rate than the natural growth of the population. (AP)

During 2022, 263,000 registered salaried jobs were created in the private sector, which marked a rise of 4.4%, well above demographic growth (1%). Compared to the end of 2019, 272,000 registered private salaried jobs were created and almost 481,000 against the pandemic floor.

“Despite this recovery, the levels of April 2018 have not yet been reached, when there were 4,000 more registered private jobs than at present, with a population almost 5% smaller,” the experts said.

Regarding the median real salary in the registered private sector, the latest data available for December shows a considerable monthly recovery, which led it to be 3.5% above December 2019 and at the highest level since March 2020.

The non-remunerative allowance of $24,000 established by the national government, the renegotiations of parity wages (according to the Ministry of Labor, the average salary increase in 2022 in the main collective agreements ended up being 104%, above observed inflation) and some moderation of inflation in the last months of 2022 explain this performance.

However, the salary is 11.8% below February 2018, prior to the start of the exchange crisis of that year.

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