Unemployment Rate Drops to 2.2%: ENOE

Mexico's unemployment rate has dropped to 2.2% at the close of 1Q25, marking a historic low, according to the National Occupation and Employment Survey (ENOE). This decline reflects a monthly decrease of 166,739 people in the unemployed population.

Prior to this, the lowest unemployment rate was recorded in March 2024, at 2.3%. Throughout 2024, the unemployment rate remained consistently below 3%. Positive labor market trends have continued into 2025, with a cumulative decrease of 0.2 percentage points in unemployment since the start of the year.

March 2025 recorded strong labor market performance. A total of 825,450 individuals left the Non-Economically Active Population (PNEA), breaking a four-month upward trend and contributing to a decline in the extended unemployment rate from 10.2% to 9.7%, according to ENOE. The extended unemployment rate accounts for both the unemployed and available PNEA individuals relative to the potential workforce.

The Economically Active Population (PEA) reached 61.1 million, with 128,000 fewer people than a year earlier. The economic participation rate stood at 59.3%, down from 60.2% in March 2024.

Job creation was robust, with 562,560 people joining the occupied population, representing the highest monthly increase since July 2024. Subordinate employment (+318,772) and independent employment (+330,918) drove this growth, while unpaid work fell by over 100,000. Formal employment accounted for 61% of new jobs, totaling 27.2 million people, marking the first positive formal sector result in 2025. Although informal employment also rose, the informality rate slightly declined by 0.1 percentage points to 54.4%.

Composition of the Occupied Population

In March 2025, 59.7 million people were employed, distributed as follows:

• Subordinate and remunerated workers: 41.4 million (69.4%), down 170,000 year-on-year
   

• Independent workers: 13.4 million (22.4%), up 436,000
   

• Employers: 3.1 million (5.1%), down 73,000
   

• Unpaid family workers: 1.8 million (3.0%), down 282,000

By sector:

• Services: 27.1 million (45.4%)
   

• Commerce: 11.7 million (19.6%)
   

• Manufacturing: 9.5 million (16.0%)
   

• Agriculture: 5.8 million (9.7%)
   

• Construction: 4.7 million (7.9%)
   

• Other activities (mining, electricity, gas): 372,000 (0.6%)
   

Sectors with the highest employment growth since March 2024:

• Transportation, communications, and storage: +466,000
   

• Commerce: +333,000
   

• Restaurants and hospitality: +178,000
   

• Professional, financial, and corporate services: +133,000

Sub-occupation, representing workers seeking additional hours, rose slightly to 6.6%, compared to 6.5% in March 2024. The rate of critical employment conditions, based on minimum wage equivalents, improved, falling to 34.1% from 38.1% year-on-year.

Informality in the Labor Market

The informal labor market included 32.5 million people in March 2025, with a 54.4% informal employment rate (TIL1), marginally higher than 54.3% a year ago. The urban informality rate was 42.9%. Among the occupied population, 17.4 million (29.1%) worked in informal conditions, an increase of 1.2 percentage points over the previous year. The urban informal employment rate was 25.9%.

Unemployed Population

The unemployed population totaled 1.4 million, representing 2.2% of the PEA. The unemployment rate among women was 2.3%, while it remained stable at 2.2% among men. Compared to March 2024, the overall unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points, driven primarily by a decrease among women.

Educational statistics among the unemployed showed that 86.9% had at least completed secondary education. In terms of age, 48.8% of unemployed individuals were between 25 and 44 years old, and 33.0% were between 15 and 24 years old.