Mexico: The country continues to be in the throes of its economic woes. Export earnings are declining, tourism income is sharply down and remittances from overseas (mostly from the US) dropped a record 20% in May. Remittances from outside Mexico are the second-largest source of revenues, just behind petroleum. About 400,000 jobs were lost between January and April and the total job loss for the year is now estimated to reach 660,000. Even government officials now admit that the economy could shrink this year, by around -6.2%, which would be equal to the contraction of 1995’s peso crisis. OECD projections see Mexico’s economy shrinking by as much as -8.0% this year. Defying the all around gloomy news, consumer confidence in June increased slightly over May.
Canada: GDP continues to fall. April’s contraction of -0.1% was the ninth month in a row of negative growth. Trade deficit for May was an unexpected C$1.42 billion, the largest monthly trade gap since 1971. Unemployment in May hit an 11-year high. On the brighter side, it can be pointed out that the financial sector in Canada is healthy -- no bailouts needed here. Housing permits increased 15% in May, housing sales were up 8.2% and consumer confidence in June grew for a third consecutive month.
General Data:
GDP compared to previous year | Consumer Price Index (and last year) | Industrial Production | Unemployment | Trade Balance past 12 months | Currency to USD on July 8 (and last year) | |
-8.2% in Q1 | +6.0%, May (+4.9%) | -13.2%, Apr | 5.3%, May | -$15.5bn, May | 13.40 (10.30) | |
-2.1%, Q1 | +0.1%, May (+2.2%) | -9.9%, Apr | 8.4%, May | +$28.0bn, Apr | 1.16 (1.01) |
Automotive and Steel Production
Total Units May | + - 2008 | Units Year-to-date | + - 2008 | Steel Prod May 000/MT | + - 2008 | Year-to-date 000/MT | +- 2008 | |
103,148 | -43.9% | 516,907 | -41.7% | 1,100 (e) | -31.0% | 5,265 | -33.6% | |
91,176 | -50.7% | 500,225 | -46.7% | 750 (e) | -49.0% | 3,799 | -46.3% |
Total Intra Nafta Steel Shipments Mar 2008-Feb 2009 in Thousand Metric Tons
Ttl Intra Nafta | From US | From Mexico | From Canada | |
5,229 | 5,088 | 88 | - | |
3,569 | 3,120 | - | 448 | |
US | 8,451 | - | 2,659 | 5,792 |