Shortly before Christmas, the government of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil suspended wages, leaving many workers feeling uncertain going into the holidays.

Venezuela saw over 30% of its companies go out of business in 2016, due to inventory shortages and increasingly high product prices.

Christmas spending often provides economic stimulus at the year’s end, but holiday purchases seem unlikely to provide much relief in Argentina.

As the Venezuelan currency crashes, some analysts anticipate that inflation will reach up to 1,500%.

Currently, 90% of all the security, maintenance and cleaning jobs in Brazil, close to 3 million, are outsourced.

Due to a profound lack of jobs in the formal economy, over four million Guatemalans daily turn to less secure, unregulated work opportunities to feed their families and make ends meet.

In the months leading up to the 2017 legislative elections, Argentina is facing economic uncertainty.

The economic slowdown in Latin America has hurt the labor market in the region and projections indicate that it is not set to improve during the remainder of 2016.

Peruvian president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has promised that by the end of his term, Line 2 of Lima’s metro system will be extended by 35 kilometers of new tunnel.

Peru’s exports of agricultural goods have experienced sustained growth, although the composition of those exports is changing to reflect new trends in demand.