Overview
- The ICA-ARG edged down 0.01% in September, closing a second straight quarter of contraction, according to the Rosario and Santa Fe exchanges’ research center.
- The leading ILA-ARG fell for a seventh consecutive month in September, down 0.3%, extending the deterioration observed since February.
- Industry posted a seventh monthly decline (-0.2% m/m, -3.1% y/y) and construction a fifth (-0.8% m/m, +1.4% y/y), while retail sales rose 0.2% m/m but remained 5.4% below a year earlier.
- Fiscal and labor gauges weakened further, with national revenue down 2.5% m/m for a seventh month and 6.7% y/y, and private registered employment falling a fourth month (-0.2% m/m), roughly 180,000 jobs below its August 2023 peak.
- Countervailing drivers included a 0.7% m/m, 37.8% y/y rise in agricultural output and a 1.9% m/m, 14.8% y/y jump in imports, as the post-election backdrop and a modest reserve-requirement relaxation by the Central Bank aim to ease financing strains.