, but have also been unable to fulfill their traditional role of cushioning this type of situation and probably explain a significant part of the unusual increase in inactivity ( figure 6 ). by sector, the fall has been widespread, especially in retail, construction and housing, and food services. what we see in chile is replicated in many countries, although with varying intensity. depending on countryspecific conditions, there have been sharp falls in employment, significant decreases in hours worked and increased inactivity ( figure 7 ). according to the international labor organization ( ilo ), compared to the last quarter of 2019, in the second quarter of this year hours worked fell 14 % globally — the equivalent to 400 million full - time jobs. the decline has been led by south america ( - 20. 6 % ), where inactivity has grown substantially. for the remainder of 2020, the ilo anticipates that, globally, hours worked will continue to remain below prepandemic levels. in chile, the reduction in labor income has continued to be reflected in the evolution of nominal wages and total hours worked ( national statistics institute, ine ), both remaining around their historical lows. at the same time, data from the august business perceptions report ( ipn ), based on interviews with more than 100 company executives and an online survey of another 760, shows that almost 70 % of those surveyed indicated that their company had cut costs, whether through reduced commissions and bonuses, cutbacks in overtime, or reductions in base salaries, among other measures ( figure 8 ). household spending has been severely affected by the decline in income, which is reflected in the sharp contraction of demand in the second quarter, particularly from private consumption. especially marked is the drop in services consumption, where social distancing measures have significant effects, such as the dramatic drop in spending on restaurants and hotels, transportation, health care and leisure activities. nevertheless, the short - term outlook for consumption has improved in the third quarter due to a set of support measures and which is reflected in better business expectations — especially for trade — and, more recently, in improved consumer expectations. in recent months, a significant number of direct aid programs, subsidies, repayment deferrals and tax breaks have been implemented. as a result, the balance between the fall in income and aid received improved significantly between the second and third quarters ( figure 9 ). in addition to the above, part of the pension savings was

expectations show improvements in some countries ( figure 3 ). it should be noted that in china the data for the second quarter were above expectations. financial markets and commodity prices have been favored by these trends, as well as by the highly expansionary monetary conditions promoted by the major central banks. the price of copper has fluctuated around $ 3 per pound and market volatility has seen significant reductions from its highs of march and april. this represents an important difference with respect to external shocks that have affected the chilean economy on past occasions. our country ’ s economy contracted by 14. 1 % annually in the second quarter, its worst record in several decades. the biggest month - on - month drop was in april, subsiding in may and recovering slightly in june and then again in july. the sharp initial contraction also occurred in a wide range of countries, although with some nuances ( figure 4 ). among the factors behind these differences are the date that the first cases appeared, the speed of the spread of new cases, how strictly containment measures were adopted and the response of the population. in the case of china, the greatest impact of the pandemic was recorded in the first quarter. peru, on the other hand, saw a dramatic drop in the second quarter, as strict nationwide quarantine was implemented. incoming information for chile suggests that activity is picking up in sectors that had been particularly hard hit, such as retail and some services ( figure 5 ). this reveals that some activities have managed to adapt more quickly to new forms of operation, notably a more intense use of online sales and teleworking. in contrast, sectors such as construction, which are highly intensive in on - site work, have suffered greater than expected consequences, given the territorial and time extension of the quarantines. because of its highly contagious nature, the pandemic caused a particularly sharp contraction in demand and supply in socially intensive areas, directly affecting the incomes of businesses and individuals. this has had a strong impact on the labor market, including self - employment. thus, in the moving quarter ending in july, the annual drop in employment affected slightly more than 1. 8 million jobs. about half of this figure corresponds to salaried jobs, mostly formal. another 760, 000 interrupted occupations correspond to non - salaried workers ( i. e. self - employed workers and employers ). given the restrictions on mobility, the latter have not only been unable to do business as usual