INEGI Publishes National Employment Figures

INEGI has presented the results of its new edition of the National Survey on Work and Occupation (ENOEN) for all 32 states. These were some of the national figures on employment, as of September 2020:

• A reduction of 3.6 million people belonging to the economically active population (from 57.3 million for the same period in 2019 to 53.8 in 2020)
• The number of people employed has fallen to 51 million, which is a 4.2 million reduction compared to the same period in 2019.
• The estimated number of men employed is 31.8 million (a 1.9 million drop since 2019) and the number of employed women employed is 19.2 million (drop of 2.3 million)
• The amount of people in need and with the ability to work more has risen to 8.7 million compared to 4.3 million in 2019.
• Employment in the tertiary sector dropped by 3 million, with the biggest impact in the restaurant and hotel sector and commercial activities, both with a drop of 1.1 million compared to 2019.
• The number of employed individuals in micro-enterprises fell by 2.2 million compared to the same period in 2019, with the most significant drop (-1.3 million) among people without a physical business location.
• The drop in employment in microenterprises was larger for women (-1.5 million) than for men (-718,000).
• The states with the highest reported levels of unemployment are Quintana Roo (10 percent), Queretaro (8.2 percent) and Mexico City (8 percent).
• The states with the lowest reported levels of unemployment are Michoacan (2.5 percent), Baja California, Morelos and Veracruz (2.8 percent).
• The states with the highest rate of informal employment are Guerrero (78.5 percent), Oaxaca (76.6 percent) and Chiapas (74.3 percent).
• The states with the lowest rate of informal employment are Nuevo Leon (35.4 percent), Chihuahua (36.6 percent) and Coahuila (36.9 percent)

The restaurant and hotel industries have been among those that have been hit the worst during the pandemic. Other indicators related to agribusiness and food include:

• The rate of informal labor stands at 79 percent in rural areas compared to 40.5 percent in urban areas.
• The percentage of people employed in agriculture, livestock, forestry, hunting or fishery stands at 13 percent, which marks an increase of 1.1 percent against the figures from 2Q20 and a 0.3 percentage increase against 3Q19.
• The percentage of men working in agriculture is 18.2 percent and the percentage of women is 4.4 percent.
• The number of people working in restaurants stands at 6.5 percent, a decrease of 1.5 percent against 2Q20 and a decrease of 1.5 percent against 3Q19.

The survey demonstrates a clear impact from the pandemic in sectors which were expected to be hit the hardest, in particular the hospitality industry. INEGI has indicated it now expects a slower recovery. According to statistics released by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), 2020 could see the closure of a total 500,000 businesses in Mexico, of both the formal and informal kind. In the meantime, the president of National Chamber of the Transformation Industry (Canacintra), Enoch Castellanos Ferez, has warned that a second wave could make 2021 another very complicated year for the Mexican entrepreneurial landscape.