Nonetheless, as these demographic variables hardly vary over short periods they are not analysed on a disaggregated basis. This variable grew at more than 10% per year in Argentina and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and between 2.1 % and 3.4% in Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Panama. In countries where poverty did not retreat by much, labour income per employed person also played a major role, especially in Costa Rica and El Salvador, although in most cases it was less decisive than other factors, and in some cases moved in the opposite direction, as in the Dominican Republic and Guatemala (see figure 1.23). In Colombia and Nicaragua, the employment rate was at least as important as average income per person employed.