In La Rioja, so far in 2024, about 10,000 jobs have been lost, three factories and five companies have closed in crisis prevention. The data appears daily in the local press; Other data is released by official organizations and shows the advance of inflation, poverty and the loss of purchasing power of Riojans since the new government took office.
The stoppage of public works and housing construction occurred almost on the same day as Milei’s inauguration, December 10 of last year, the effects were seen in January, after the traditional construction holiday period. Since then, there have been around 9,000 unemployed people in this area. In percentage terms, La Rioja is among the provinces with a pronounced drop in construction.
The provincial Industrial Park, governor Ricardo Quintela’s workhorse regarding reactivation in his first administration, now had, as a result of the national adjustment, 389 layoffs, 350 suspensions and the definitive closure of three factories.
The unions, especially ATE, reported daily the massive layoffs throughout the country in the public administration: 120 workers from ANSES, INADI, SENASA, INTA, National Parks, the Secretariat of Family Agriculture, ENACOM and 50 from the former Ministry of Social Development were left on the streets. Also due to the closure of the 17 Correo Argentino offices located in the province, which led to more than 58 people being left without work.
The increase in electricity and gas rates for businesses, companies, producers and residents and the increase in food products and supplies caused a decrease in consumption, closure of businesses due to lower sales and 42 laid off in the gastronomic sector, 51 in transportation, 15 in casinos, 20 metallurgical, 5 in businesses dedicated to the sale of footwear and 11 in the Chango Más supermarket, according to the daily data provided by the Secretary of Labor of the province, Myriam Espinosa, who gave details of the five companies with crisis preventive processes.
Inflation and poverty
In La Rioja, between March 2023 and the same month of 2024, the accumulated inflation in the region that makes up the province was 277.3% and in April it did not decrease, it was 9.1%. These data that influence the cost of food baskets also provide information on poverty and indigence. In this area, the provincial government, through Prensa, made the following analysis: In the first period of 2023, the percentage of poverty in the province had a slight decrease to 39.6 below the national average, which was 40.1 (something that has been repeating since 2019); while in the second semester the indicator rose to 51.6, above the national average. It should be noted that the index rose in almost all of the country’s provinces (with the exception of two) due to the increase in prices after the PASO and the exchange runs caused by the speculation of some economic groups after the triumph of the current president.
Price release
The official analysis is aimed at showing that inflation was a determining factor in the advancement of poverty and that it occurred in similar numbers in all provinces. In turn, inflation is also related to the devaluation of the exchange rate and the liberalization of prices that occurred in December, which is why it stood at 25.5%. Thus, there was a real drop in the salary of workers in the public and private sectors.
Poverty, for the first month of the year, was calculated by the Argentine Social Debt Observatory (ODSA) of the Argentine Catholic University with data available as of the third quarter of 2023, the evolution of the basic basket and labor income – both data published by INDEC – and estimated that in January 2024 (one month after the inauguration of the current president) it affected 57.4% of the population, while indigence increased to 15%.
The provincial government denounced the Nation because non-automatic transfers during the first four months of 2024 were reduced by 89.5%. Together with Formosa and La Pampa they had the largest reductions.
food distribution
In statements to the Buenos Aires media, the Minister of Social Development of La Rioja, Alfredo Menem, revealed that the province was left out of the list of places to which part of the food that is in the warehouses that depend on Human Capital will be sent. of the Nation.
Of the 395,781 kilos of powdered milk that will be distributed in the country, La Rioja is one of the districts where the Argentine Army trucks will not arrive, according to what was in charge of disseminating not only the provincial government, but also the media.
