Argentina's economy contracts by most since pandemic to end 2022

Argentina's economy contracted less than expected at the end of last year, as rising inflation sets the stage for a likely recession in 2023.

Gross domestic product fell 1.5 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous three-month period, the largest quarterly contraction since the height of the global pandemic, but below economists' median estimate of a 1.7 percent decline.

Compared with the same period a year earlier, the economy expanded 1.9 percent, according to official data released on Wednesday.

Argentina's economy expanded 5.2 percent in 2022, racking up the second consecutive year of annual growth for the first time since 2011. South America's second-largest economy has contracted in six of the past 11 years.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell to 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter, the data showed.