Mexico’s Job Market Sees Slow April
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Mexico’s Job Market Sees Slow April

Photo by:   Marten Bjork, Unsplash
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Thu, 05/13/2021 - 23:17

This week, Mexico saw a poor recovery in its labor marker led mainly by construction, manufacturing and telecommunications. The tourism sector also saw a sharp decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The country is also studying the eventual return of students to face-to-face classes after a year of online education.

Meanwhile, the US Trade Representative urged Mexican authorities to review irregularities at a union vote at a GM plant in Silao, while Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Relations (SRE) pointed to poor work conditions for Mexico’s agricultural workers living in the US.

Jump into this week’s highlights:

Mexico’s tourism sector saw a sharp drop in international tourists during March 2021. The country received 17.4 percent fewer international tourists year-on-year, according to INEGI, for a total of 2.3 million foreign travelers that month. In comparison, in March 2021 the country received 2.8 million foreign travelers, reports MBN.

Mexico created only 44,774 new formal jobs in April, the lowest figure since the start of 2021, reports IMSS. The institute also indicates that during the year the country has generated 296,751 new jobs, which does not offset the large amount of job losses the country saw as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Construction, manufacturing and telecommunications were responsible for most of the jobs created in April, while retail keeps lagging behind.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) urged Mexican authorities to investigate allegations of workers being denied their rights at a GM pickup truck plant in Silao, Guanajuato. Mexico’s Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Work and Social Prevision (STPS) agreed to review the allegations and to share the results of the probe with their US counterparts. Workers at the GM plant recently voted against a new labor agreement backed by the Mexican Workers’ Confederation (CMT), which is one of the largest unions in the country. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated that there were many irregularities in the union-led vote, reports Reuters, and representatives from Mexico’s government pointed that some blank votes had been torn.

Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a letter to the US Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh claiming that the latter country failed to provide the appropriate work conditions to Mexican farmers living in the US. The accusations include barriers to unionizing and possible health and safety violations that are specified in USMCA, reports El Economista.

The Dean of Mexico’s largest university, UNAM, stated that in-person classes are likely to resume in August. Enrique Graue, however, warned that the university would not receive all students back at the same time but would develop a hybrid model that mixed in-person with online classes to protect students and university personnel. Mexico’s Ministry of Education (SEP) is also analyzing the eventual return of students to the classroom once all staff is vaccinated.

Photo by:   Marten Bjork, Unsplash

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