Unemployment reaches 7.5% in Argentina and remains at the highest level since 2020

The unemployment rate in Argentina reached 7.5% in the fourth quarter of 2025, the highest level for the period since the pandemic, according to official data.

This data is accompanied by the loss of formal jobs, the maintenance of informality at high levels and the closure of companies over the last two years.

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec), the index rose 1.1 percentage points compared to the same period in 2024 and 0.9 points compared to the previous quarter. In absolute terms, 1.093 million people were unemployed between October and December, an increase of 156 thousand compared to the previous quarter.

The survey, which covers 31 urban conglomerates with around 30 million inhabitants, also indicates that informality remained at 43% of the employed population, equivalent to 5.8 million workers. In the same period, 16.5% of those employed declared that they were looking for a second job, totaling 2.4 million people.

The data is released in a scenario of economic stagnation. Private estimates indicate that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell 0.5% in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter, reflecting the slowdown in activity and weak consumption.

In the formal job market, there has been a loss of more than 200 thousand formal jobs in the private sector since the beginning of the current government, equivalent to around 3% of the total. The public sector also recorded cuts, with thousands of positions eliminated over the period.

Even with the rise in unemployment, the data indicate an increase in self-employment and informality as a way of partially absorbing the workforce. This movement contributed to the rate not showing continuous growth throughout all quarters.

In February, the Argentine Congress approved the labor reform proposed by Javier Milei’s government. The text makes hiring rules more flexible, reduces dismissal costs and changes compensation mechanisms.

Recent surveys also point to the closure of more than 22 thousand companies over the recent period, at a rate of more than 30 per day, amid the contraction in economic activity.

In absolute terms, estimates indicate the incorporation of around 400 thousand new unemployed people in the last two years, bringing the total to approximately 1.7 million people without work in the country.