He construction sector reached a historical record of workers last November, with 460,386 jobs, while the industry accumulated 29 months of growth in its jobs that totaled 93,000 in the penultimate month of 2022 and are 10,000 away from recovering what was lost during the Government of Mauritius Macri.
According to figures from National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec), the 460,386 jobs in construction imply a historical record for the sector after what happened in June 2015, with 458,433 jobs, and in November 2017, with 458,147; which were the two highest marks so far.
This contrasts with the latest data released by INDEC that industrial activity grew 4.3% over the past year but after having presented a drop of 2.7% in December compared to the same month of 2021.
Meanwhile, the activity in the sector of the construction accumulated an improvement of 3.5% compared to the previous year, after closing December with a decrease of 10.6% year-on-year. In the last month of last year, the manufacturing sector showed a decline of 1.2% compared to November, and construction a drop of 3.5%.
Job recovery process
However, both sectors showed last year a strong job recovery process lost between 2016 and 2019, in addition to the creation of new jobs in the case of construction.
“The development of investment in public works has multiple impacts and one of them is linked to the growth in jobs. The recovery of employment is one of the central axes of our management and this process cannot be understood without infrastructure”, The national director of Transparency of the Ministry of Public Works, Roxana Mazzola, told Télam.
The 460,386 jobs in construction imply a record for the sector
In addition, he stressed that “if a year-on-year comparison between November 2021 and the same month of 2022, exponential growth can be glimpsed in this area”, and specified that “there is a 16.3% increase year on year and an increase of 2.7% month-on-month”. The official remarked that “these data clearly mark the direction of the policies promoted by the Ministry and its commitment to a public work that includes more and more working people.”
“In 2016, more than 42,000 jobs were lost compared to 2015, which meant the greatest setback before the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the negative consequences that mandatory confinement generated in construction, it can be seen more than two years of uninterrupted increase in jobs, with the exception of December 2020 and 2021 that had a drop between -1% and -2%, usual in the summer period,” Mazzola highlighted.
Encouraging outlook
He stressed that “at the federal level, the outlook is even more encouraging“, and specified that “according to the Institute of Statistics and Registration of the Construction Industry (Ieric), there were 21 jurisdictions that increased their volume of employment compared to the previous month.”
In this regard, he pointed out that “among those with the highest monthly growth, stand out La Pampa (8.5%), Neuquén (6.7%), Tierra del Fuego (6%) and Catamarca (5.8%)”.
“Finally, an interesting fact to take into account is related to the unemployment rate in the general labor market. In the third quarter of 2022, it returned to one digit (7.1%) and, in this way, maintains almost no variations compared to previous semesters. In turn, it is consolidated as the sixth consecutive period to register below two digits”, concluded the official.
For its part, registered industrial employment accumulated 29 months of monthly growth in November since July 2020, incorporating more than 93,000 workers, according to the Center for Argentine Political Economy (CEPA).
“However, they remain to recover 10,000 stalls to reach the amount lost during the management of Cambiemos”, they explained from the study center led by Hernán Letcher.
Employment: the industry has been growing for 29 months
They pointed out that “from June of last year onwards, industrial production fell 2%”, but stressed that “this process was accompanied by a increase in employment in every month, accounting for more than 16,000 jobs in that period”.
According to CEPA, the sectors that grew the most in terms of job creation within the industry were food, chemical products, other metal products, automotive and textile production.
