Mexico's unemployment rate climbed to 3.0 percent in August, according to the national statistics institute INEGI, marking an increase from 2.9 percent in July and a year earlier. The number of unemployed people reached 1.88 million, representing 87,000 more workers without jobs than one year earlier. This rise occurred even as the overall labor force expanded by 1.3 million people over the same period, reaching 62.6 million.
INEGI's National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE) defines an unemployed person as someone who did not work even one hour in the survey week and actively sought employment. The reported 3.0 percent figure is not adjusted for seasonal variations. On a seasonally adjusted basis, unemployment remained at 2.7 percent, unchanged from July, but still 0.1 point above August 2025.
The Expanding Reserve Army
While overall employment rose by 1.2 million over the year to 60.7 million, the quality of these jobs reveals a deepening precarity for the working class. The share of people aged 15 and over who work or seek work increased to 59.3 percent from 58.8 percent. However, the ranks of those jobless for six months to a year nearly doubled, reaching 158,755, compared to 87,128 one year earlier. This growing pool of long-term unemployed workers exerts downward pressure on wages and working conditions for those still employed.
The informal sector continues to absorb a significant portion of the workforce, with 55.0 percent of workers, or 33.4 million people, engaged in informal employment. This figure is up from 54.8 percent one year earlier. Informal work means labor without social-security protection or employment within unregistered businesses, leaving millions vulnerable and without basic protections. An additional 7.0 percent of workers, approximately 4.3 million people, were underemployed, indicating they desired and were available to work more hours. This underemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, rose to 6.8 percent from 6.4 percent in July. INEGI also counts 5.0 million people outside the labor force who state they could work but are not actively looking. The broadest measure of labor market distress, critical working conditions, reached 37.8 percent of workers, an increase from 37.3 percent one year earlier.
Capital's Shifting Sands
Key productive sectors saw significant job losses, reflecting capital's shifting priorities and global market forces. Manufacturing shed 263,000 jobs, employing 9.7 million people in August, fewer than one year earlier. Farming lost 290,000 workers, and retail and wholesale trade saw a reduction of 161,000. While construction added 146,000 jobs, and restaurants and hotels added 538,000, these gains often represent lower-wage, less secure employment. A catch-all group of other services added 790,000, and government employment rose by 242,000.
Formal job registrations with IMSS, the Mexican Social Security Institute, recorded a net gain of 38,319 jobs in August, following a loss of 19,550 in July. Traditional jobs increased by 86,765, but registrations for app-based platform workers fell by 48,446. Despite this monthly decline, platform registrations are up 49.8 percent over twelve months, IMSS reported. Over twelve months, IMSS-registered jobs rose by 343,556, or 1.5 percent, to 22.8 million. This twelve-month gain is notably lower than the 111,736 monthly gain reported in August 2023 by El Economista.
The State's Hand
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas calculated that formal employment fell by about 9,100 jobs in August, marking a second consecutive monthly decline. This decline occurs within a context of international trade dynamics where the United States, which purchases approximately 83 percent of Mexico’s exports according to the consultancy Deloitte, imposes tariffs on Mexican cars, auto parts, machinery, and steel. Reuters reported that Washington declined to renew the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in July, opting instead for annual reviews, introducing further uncertainty for capital. New foreign investment in Mexico fell 13 percent in the first half of 2026, Reuters found, indicating a retreat of international capital. Fixed investment also fell year on year for 19 straight months through May, according to IMEF, Mexico’s finance executives’ institute.
Banco de México (Banxico) held its overnight interest rate at 6.50 percent on Thursday 24 September, marking the third consecutive meeting without a change. Banxico stated it need not mechanically track the US Federal Reserve. Private forecasters polled by Banxico in August anticipate a modest 1.3 percent economic growth this year. The central bank's policy prioritizes financial stability, often at the expense of stimulating job creation for the working class.