{
  "id": 327499,
  "title": "Private sector wages have fallen nearly 4% since Milei took office",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/07/31/private-sector-wages-have-fallen-nearly-4-since-milei-took-office",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-07-31T21:17:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Buenos Aires Herald",
    "slug": "buenos-aires-herald-buenosaire",
    "url": "https://buenosairesherald.com/economics/private-sector-wages-fall-nearly-4-since-milei-took-office"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "President Javier Milei's administration has seen a decline in the purchasing power of incomes in Argentina's formal economy, contributing to stagnation in consumer spending. Nadín Argañaraz, director of the Argentine Institute for Fiscal Analysis, analyzed six main income sources and found that private-sector wages have decreased by 3.6%, the least significant among all. National public-sector workers experienced the steepest drop, with purchasing power falling by 36.5%, followed by provincial government employees at 9.8%. Even minimum pensions saw a 9.7% decline. In contrast, pensions above the minimum increased by 9.1%, and AUH (universal child allowance) benefits surged by 100.5% since the government change. However, AUH payments still fall short of the minimum wage, which has lost about 40% of its purchasing power since Milei's inauguration. Monthly minimum wage is currently set at 372,400 pesos (US$246.60), while AUH benefits are only 150,861 pesos (US$100) per child. This has been exacerbated by soaring utility costs, with water rates up 525%, electricity by 568%, transport by 1,408%, and gas by 2,185% in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area since Milei's takeover. Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index rose by 241% over the same period, eroding the disposable income of lower-income households. Despite this, consumer spending has shown little recovery. Market research firm Scentia reported that mass-market consumption in June fell 2.7% year-over-year, a 0.9% decrease compared to May and an overall 2.9% decline for 2026.",
  "summary": "Public sector employees have been hit even harder, as their salaries’ purchasing power has dropped 36% since November 2023 La entrada Private sector wages have fallen nearly 4% since Milei took office se publicó primero en Buenos Aires Herald .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}