The total number of formal sector jobs in Mexico rose by more than 900,000 in the 12-month period to January 31, the biggest increase on record, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) reported Monday.
Just over 20.76 million workers were registered with IMSS at the end of last month, an increase of 940,768 compared to the end of January 2021.
IMSS said that 86.7% of workers were in permanent positions and the remainder were employed in temporary jobs.
The number of formal sector positions was 142,271 higher than at the end of December. IMSS said it was the biggest December to January increase on record.
It reported that the sectors with the highest annual growth were transport and communications, up 11.3%; construction, up 7.6%; and mining, up 7.3%.
Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Baja California Sur recorded the biggest annual increase in formal sector jobs. Employment growth in all three states was above 14%, IMSS said. Quintana Roo and Baja California Sur are heavily dependent on tourism, which began to recover last year after a sharp pandemic-induced downturn in 2020.
IMSS also reported that the average base salary of formal sector workers was $466 pesos (US $22.60) per day at the end of last month. The annual increase was 8.9%, the highest January to January jobs jump of the past decade.
Meanwhile, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported that 72% of jobs recovered after the initial lockdown period at the start of the pandemic in 2020 were in the informal sector. The ILO considered data from the middle of 2020 to the third quarter of 2021.
The percentage is higher than several other countries in the region, including Costa Rica, Brazil and Chile.
“Informality is endemic in this region and can be considered a ‘social comorbidity’ in this pandemic,” the ILO said in the executive summary of its 2021 labor overview report for Latin America and the Caribbean.
“In 2019, one in two employed persons was working under informal conditions. At the beginning of the crisis, the informality rate dropped due to the enormous loss of this type of jobs; however, most of the jobs recovered since then have been under informal conditions.”
Mexico News Daily
