The number of jobs created in the first quarter of this year was the highest in 10 years, President López Obrador said today.

“According to IMSS [the Mexican Social Security Institute], the number of insured workers grew in the January-March quarter – 269,143 jobs were created. The figure represents an increase not seen for 10 years in a similar period,” the president told reporters at his morning press conference.

López Obrador said the job numbers are indicative of a growing economy, adding that the government remains confident that economic growth will exceed the figures forecast by analysts for 2019.

“The bet is on with the experts, the banks, the financiers, who have forecast that we’re going to have lower growth than what we’re estimating,” he said.

“We accept the challenge and we’ll be here watching [the economic data] . . . We’re going to win.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week lowered its growth forecast for this year to 1.6% from the 2.1% predicted in January, while the Bank of México also cut its mean outlook to 1.6% in February.

The Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) said earlier this month that it expected the economy will grow between 1.1% and 2.1% this year but López Obrador quickly rejected his own government’s figures, stating that they were too low.

The federal government says that it is targeting average 4% growth during its six-year term, a figure considered fanciful by most analysts.

Source: El Financiero (sp)