Brazil's jobless rate rose to 8.4% in the three months through January, statistics agency IBGE said on Friday, slightly above market expectations, Reuters reported. The median forecast in a Reuters poll projected an unemployment rate of 8.3%. In the previous three months, the rate was also at 8.3%. "This stability still would be a repercussion of the reduction in the demand for work in the months of November and December 2022 over the beginning of 2023," said research manager, Adriana Beringuy.

Argentina’s central bank is considering raising its benchmark rate Thursday for the first time since September after annual inflation surged above 100% last month, Bloomberg News reported. The monetary authority’s board will consider an increase after leaving the key Leliq rate unchanged at 75% for several months, the people said, asking not to be named discussing internal decisions. The board hasn’t decided on the size of the hike in case they opt for such move, they said.

A Brazilian Senate committee on Tuesday extended formal invitations to central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto and five former executives from beleaguered retailer Americanas SA, asking them to provide details on a pair of sagas that have gripped the country in the opening months of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s presidency, Bloomberg News reported. The Senate’s economic affairs committee wants Campos Neto to explain his position on Brazil’s benchmark interest rate, as Lula and his economic team continue to push for lower borrowing costs in an effort to boost economic growth.

Latin America’s largest airline is planning a return to US capital markets after cutting nearly $4 billion of debt during a years-long restructuring, Bloomberg News reported. Latam Airlines Group SA will seek to re-list its American depositary receipts on the New York Stock Exchange this year after they were suspended during the bankruptcy, Chief Financial Officer Ramiro Alfonsín said in a video interview. It also expects to return to international bond markets next year, he said.

Argentina’s annual inflation surpassed 100% last month, one of the world’s fastest rates, putting extra pressure on an economy that’s expected to fall into recession ahead of presidential elections this year, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 102.5% in February from a year prior, the highest since late 1991 when the economy was cooling off from 3,000% hyperinflation. Prices rose 6.6% on the month, more than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of analysts that had a 6% median forecast, according to government data published Tuesday.

Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Wednesday his proposal for a new fiscal framework was now "at the presidential palace," but did not provide further details, Reuters reported. His remarks to reporters in Brasilia came after CNN Brasil reported he had delivered the framework to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a key step for the proposal to go forward as Haddad previously said Lula would have the final word on it.

Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Monday that getting a new fiscal framework right would have a much more important impact on the economy than the discussion about inflation targets, Reuters reported. Haddad said he intended to present the framework to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva this week. "If we get the fiscal framework right, this has a much more important impact (than the discussion of inflation targets)," he said, when asked about possible changes to inflation targets.

LATAM Airlines reported a fourth-quarter net profit of $2.538 billion, the company said on Thursday, and said that the results reflected all financial renegotiations stemming from its bankruptcy proceedings, Reuters reported. The quarterly profit of South America's leading airline compares to a loss of $2.755 billion during the same three-month period a year earlier. However the company will propose not to pay out dividends and instead use its 2022 profits to offset accumulated losses, it said in a securities filing later on Thursday.

Argentina will give investors the chance to exchange holdings of local debt into new bonds in a bid to ease fears of a default on the government’s $35 billion of local debt coming due in the second quarter, Bloomberg News reported. Economy Minister Sergio Massa said the government would offer investors two swap options to exchange local bonds coming due between April and June. The government is seeking to build the local bond curve to 2024 and 2025, Massa said in a broadcast video statement.