General: Even though Mexico seems to have avoided the slowdown of their neighbor to the North, there are some worrying signs on the horizon. Inflation has accelerated to the fastest pace seen since May 2005, and the consumer confidence index has gone down to 97.8 (106.3 in April of 2007). The Central Bank left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 7.5% for the sixth month in a row.
GDP: +3.8% in Q4
Consumer Prices: +4.55% in April, the highest mark since May '05 and 0.23% over March. Core inflation, not factoring in food and gas prices, rose 0.41% in April.
Industrial Production: +5.4% in February
Unemployment: 3.8% in March
Trade Balance: - $12.2 billion at end of March for the latest twelve months
Automotive Production: 193,075 units were produced in April, or 26.1% ahead of last year. In the first four months of the year, 701,516 units were produced or 12.4% more than last year.
Steel Production: 1.55 million metric tons or 5.0% ahead of last year. In the first three months of the year, 4.47 million mt were produced, or 4.4% more than last year.
Currency: Peso 10.5 to US$1 as of May 7 (10.8 a year ago)
GDP: +1.5% in February compared to last year; -0.2% compared to January
Consumer Prices: +1.4% in March
Industrial Production: - 2.9% in February
Unemployment: 6.1% in April
Trade Balance: +$45.5 billion at end of February for the latest twelve months
Automotive Production: 199,398 units were produced in April, or 11.5% less than last year. In the first four months of the year, 754,454 units were produced, or 17.6% less than last year.
Steel Production: 1.5 million metric tons in March, or 4.8% ahead of last year. In the first three months of the year, 4.355 million metric tons were produced, or 7.5% more than last year
Currency: An even C$1.00 to 1 US$ as of May 7 (1.11 a year ago)