Despite Trump bailout, Argentina slips back into recession in November
Data published today by Argentina's Statistics and Census Institute (INDEC) showed the country's economy shrinking by 0.3% in November, compared to a year earlier.
Declines were most severe in fisheries (-25%), manufacturing (-8.2%), retail and wholesale commerce (-6.4%), and construction (-2.3%).
As in most of far-right President Javier Milei's two-year rule, significant growth was recorded only in finance (13.9%), agriculture (10.5%), and mining and extraction (7.0%).
The country's economy - Latin America's third-largest - declined a seasonally-adjusted 0.3% in November from October. The fifth such decline in nine months, it left GDP just 0.8% higher than in November 2023 - the last full month of the embattled, center-left Alberto Fernández administration.
The monthly decline - the second in a row - comes after U.S President Donald Trump pledged $20 billion to bail out the hard currency-strapped nation of 47 million ahead of mid-term elections in October (which Milei's party unexpectedly won).
Argentine officials on January 9 announced the repayment of the $2.5 billion drawn.
Mixed results
For the first eleven months of the year, GDP grew 4.5% - the best showing since 2022 and a rebound from the 2.0% decline in January-November 2024, when the impact from Milei's sharp austerity measures hit hardest.
The country recorded a $1.8 billion budget surplus in 2024, and just over $1 billion in 2025 - in sharp contrast to the $27 billion deficit recorded in 2023 (4.4% of GDP - compared to 6.2% in the U.S.).
The austerity measures are credited by Milei with helping reduce inflation to 31.5% last year - the lowest in eight years, and a dramatic improvement from around 211% in 2023 and 118% in 2024.
Argentina's labor market has borne the brunt of austerity, however, with the number of registered workers falling by 585,000 - or 4.4% - from November 2023 to October 2025 (the latest data available).
And while Milei pledged to "take a chainsaw" to public sector employees he often referred to as "the caste" during his 2023 campaign, seven out of eight jobs lost (some 513,000) have been in the private sector.
A net 21,000 employers (4.1% of the 2023 total) went out of business in Argentina during that period.
At: https://www-eldestapeweb-com.translate.goog/economia/actividad-economica/la-actividad-economica-volvio-a-caer-en-noviembre-empujada-por-el-derrumbe-de-la-industria-y-el-comercio-202612116944?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Former President Alberto Fernández (center) poses with staff and public officials at Whirlpool's new factory in Pilar, Argentina, in June 2023.
Following two years of austerity and free-trade measures enacted (largely by decree) by his right-wing successor, Javier Milei, however, the U.S. appliance maker announced on November 26 that it would shutter the plant - adding some 220 workers to Argentina's growing ranks of unemployed.
