Financial Diary – Santiago
The labor income of Chileans They continue to grow at rates above 6% annually, although more recently the pace of expansion has moderated.
This is shown by the wage bill data, calculated by the Santiago Chamber of CommerceCCS, which in October showed an increase of 6.4% compared to the same period of the previous year. Thus, the indicator accumulates five months in a row with advances of over 6%.
However, The result implies a slowdown if contrasted with the 7.4% growth during September.
The wage bill represents the total labor income received by paid workers in the country.and its behavior has a strong impact on the savings and private consumption indicators in the economy.
According to the CCS, October’s result was explained by an annual increase of 3.4% in salaried employment and 2.9% in real wages.
So far this year, the wage bill has accumulated an average expansion of 6.4%, “deepening the trend towards stabilization of labor income that has been observed in recent quarters”says the union report.
Now, if we consider the total number of workers, including not only the salaried, but also the non-salaried,the CCS estimates that in October the total volume of income of employed people would have grown 5.1% in 12 months, which implies a slower rate of expansion of 1.1 percentage points compared to September.
Slowdown in the public sector
One of the trends that have marked the year 2024 in labor matters has been the high growth of employment and salaries in the public sector versus the private sector. Part of that phenomenon seems to be being left behind.
First, when reviewing the behavior of employment according to branch of activity, The financial and insurance sector achieved the highest growth in October (6.8% annually), followed by accommodation and food activities (5.6%), and the health and social assistance sector (4.8%).
The public administration, meanwhile, showed no variations in 12 months, accumulating five periods of contraction in its employment. Now, considering all public employment, it expanded 2.9% in the month, growing less than private sector occupations (3.5%) for the first time since April of this year.
Regarding salaries, An average nominal growth of 8% is observed, led by the accommodation and food sector (11.6%), followed by transportation and storage (9.7%), and the manufacturing industry (9.2%).
Public sector salaries, meanwhile, increased 5.2% in 12 months in October, and 0.4% compared to the previous moving quarter (in September it was 5.6%). So far this year, public salaries show an average growth (5.3%) below the sector average of 8% for the economy.
