The Day at a Glance | December 28 2023

*In Mexico, the unemployment rate stood at 2.8% in November, according to seasonally adjusted figures.

*In the United States, initial unemployment claims reached 218 thousand in the week ending on December 23rd. This is a 12 thousand increase compared to the previous week.

*The Central Bank of China announced that it will go through a series of macroeconomic adjustments, including maintaining liquidity and promoting credit.

*Approximately half of the container fleet crossing the Suez Canal is diverting to longer routes. This results in a 25% increase in transit times.

Economic environment

In November, the economically active population (EAP) in Mexico set at 59.8 million people aged 15 and older. Out of this population, 58.2 million were employed (31.8 million in informal employment), and 1.6 million remained unemployed or did not work for at least one hour. Compared to November 2022, the number of employed individuals increased by 911 thousand. On the other hand, underemployed individuals – those who reported the need and availability to work more hours – set at 4.8 million, or 8.2% of the total employed population. Additionally, the unemployment rate, calculated as the unemployed population within the EAP, was 2.8%, 0.2 percentage points lower than what was logged in November of last year, according to seasonally adjusted figures. Due to Hurricane Otis, the collection of information through household surveys, such as the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE for its acronym in Spanish), was postponed in the state of Guerrero. November´s data doesn’t include this state, and the comparison with November 2022 also doesn’t consider Guerrero in order to ensure comparable figures.