The head of the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA in Spanish) José Ignacio de Mendiguren today played down the jobless rates unveiled yesterday by the INDEC, but recognized a reduction in extra hours and working days schedules.
“(Unemployment) has not hit the manufacturing sector that much. Training of technicians or workers costs a lot so the last thing a manufacturer does is to fire a worker. There are sectors of the economy where training is easier,” de Mendiguren told reporters from a local radio station.
“Job losses are not being felt but a reduction in extra hours and working days is,” the UIA president added as he analyzed the recent trends released by the statistics office INDEC showing unemployment has climbed to 7.9 percent during the first trimester of the year while underemployment has reached 8 percent.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald