In July, formal employment in the Mexican steel industry registered a growth of 4.0 percent, year-over-year. That is the lowest growth rate in the last seven months and with 141,905 workers it is the lowest figure since last February, according to a SteelOrbis analysis of official data.
In February, the annual increase was 7.0 percent, in March, April, and May it was just over 6.0 percent, in June it was 5.4 percent, and the 4.0 percent in July is the lowest in that period, according to data from the formal employment (records in the IMSS social security institute) in the Basic Metal Industry, which according to the classifier of the national statistics agency Inegi, corresponds to the steel industry.
Nuevo León remains the largest steel economy in Mexico, by number of jobs, with 28,088 workers (19.8 percent of the total), followed by Coahuila with 19,285 workers (13.6 percent of the total), the State of Mexico with 13,059 workers (9.2 percent).
Veracruz ousted Guanajuato from fourth position. Veracruz registered 11,736 workers (8.3 percent), Guanajuato 11,593 workers (8.2 percent of the total). Together these five states concentrate 59.0 percent of the 141,905 employed workers in the country. Considering the 10 main steel economies in Mexico, employment represents 81.7 percent.
In July, the steel industry in Mexico contributed 2.34 percent of total manufacturing employment (6.06 million workers) or 0.65 percent of total formal employment in Mexico that totaled 21.88 million workers.