April meant an encouraging month in the labor market for all entities in the country, especially for the largest state economies in the national territory.
According to data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS), the 32 states of Mexico generated formal jobs during the fourth month of 2023, compared to the same period in 2022.
The entities that created the most insured jobs at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) were precisely the economies with the greatest weight in the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Nuevo León and Jalisco, which contribute 40 % of the total.
The first place was for the capital of the country, which generated 95,179 formal jobs between April 2023 and the same month last year; its main strengths were general services (34,318 jobs) and commerce (30,198).
The second position was achieved by Nuevo León with 90,947 new jobs, of which 35% derived from its manufacturing industries.
The podium was completed by Jalisco by registering 88,487 new jobs, as a result of the dynamism of the manufacturing (23,958) and services (21,813) sectors.
In the fourth step was the State of Mexico, with the creation of 76,492 insured jobs in the IMSS, whose pillar corresponds to its logistics vocation: transport and communications (17,882).
For the academic from the Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Estado de México, Héctor Magaña, the recovery of the formal labor market is due to the performance of the economy during the first quarter of the year, that is, the results of economic growth are linked to the employment figures.
“The advance in secondary activities, and especially the advance in tertiary activities, manifested itself with the generation of formal employment. We see it with both Mexico City, the State of Mexico and Jalisco, all three have a significant dependence on the development of tertiary activities or services, highlighting tourism, whose advance motivated employment levels, ”he added.
He added that for Nuevo León, secondary activities boosted the generation of employment and perhaps some investments (nearshoring) that had been taking place since the end of 2022.
Meanwhile, Kristobal Meléndez, an economic and financial analyst, said that the labor dynamism is due to various reasons, such as the economic recovery after the ravages of the pandemic.
“The more it recovers, then normality is reached faster and more jobs are generated; The second factor is related to the new digital mechanisms and federal and local policies to promote formality in companies, for example, workers have to be registered with RFC ”, he deepened.
The third reason is the war in Europe, because, he explained, in Mexico new opportunities have been opened by this war event, and therefore, there is an increase in the labor market.
on an individual level
At the individual level, the expert indicated that Mexico City is encouraging the generation of formal employment by continuing to be attractive due to the level of academic preparation of its population, which is above that of most states.
“There is also a greater stabilization after the policy of eliminating subcontracting, added to the recovery of tourism and the domestic market,” he said.
For Nuevo León, he said that due to its location on the border with the United States, the consumer market is larger and more so due to the weak economic situation of the neighboring country, whose population prefers to consume in the Mexican entity.
“Another variable is that it also has a high level of education, compared to other states of the Mexican Republic. Furthermore, although the industrial situation in Nuevo León is not like it was a year ago, employment continues to be generated; Even if there were no problems in this sector, the increase in jobs would be greater, ”he said.
For Jalisco and the State of Mexico, Kristobal Meléndez pointed out that the generation of formal employment is related to tourism and services. “Tourism is important for Jalisco, for example, because of its beaches, the city of Guadalajara itself.”
“With the case of the State of Mexico it would be similar, due to its population and the metropolitan areas there is a greater consumption of services and greater generation of jobs,” he said.
The analyst concluded that the appreciation of the peso against the dollar gives strength to the purchasing power of Mexicans and that triggers consumption, “and with greater consumption, the national market recovers. Formal jobs are mainly concentrated in states where there is a higher level of preparation, which is the case of Mexico City, Nuevo León and even the State of Mexico and Jalisco”.
