Unemployment drops to 2.5% in the first quarter

The unemployment rate in Mexico fell to 2.5% in the first quarter of 2024, lower than the 2.7% of both the same period in 2023 and the period from October to December, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) reported yesterday Monday. ).”In the January-March 2024 quarter, the unemployed population was 1.5 million people. The corresponding unemployment rate (TD) was 2.5% of the EAP (economically active population), a figure lower than that of the same period a year earlier,” the autonomous body indicated in its report.

The economically active population totaled 60.7 million people, an increase of 574,000 compared to the same period in 2023. The main year-on-year increases in jobs were concentrated in financial and corporate professional services, with an increase of 245,000 people; in various services, with 181,000; in social services, with 158,000, and in restaurants and accommodation services, with 136,000.

On the other hand, 4 million people were underemployed, that is, they reported having the need and willingness to work more hours.

Likewise, the institute reported a year-on-year reduction of 78,000 workers in the informal sector, which concentrated 32.1 million people.

In this way, the informality rate remained at 54.3% of the total workforce.

By gender, 75.9% of men are in the labor market compared to 45.9% of women.

By sector, the institute detailed that 10.8% of the total workers are in primary activities, 25% in secondary or industrial activities, and 63.6% in tertiary or services. The remaining 0.6% did not specify their activity.

By region, the entities that had the highest unemployment rates during the first quarter of 2024 were Coahuila (4.2%), Mexico City (4%) and the State of Mexico (3.6%).

The figures are a reflection of Mexico’s economic behavior, which in the first quarter of the year grew 1.6% year-on-year and 0.3 percent quarterly, according to the definitive data that Inegi released last week.

The main increases were concentrated in financial and corporate services