Reliable Jobs Data Urged | El Economista

Reliable Jobs Data Urged | El Economista

Although Mexico has taken important steps towards measuring the real employment situation in accordance with international parameters, it is still necessary to generate other key indicators that reflect the reality of the labor market, according to a survey of analysts and labor economists.

The experts involved in the survey agree that authorities should be able to explain each month what is happening in the area of labor productivity, quality, employment costs and the use of leisure time, just as it is done in other developed countries.

At present, certain basic data is lacking such as each worker’s wage level, whether the worker is employed in the private sector or in the government, be it federal, state or municipal, and a complete picture of the types of fringe benefits he is receiving.

One example of the shortcomings of the current methodology is that there is no measure of what is known internationally as decent or quality jobs. Since the onset of the global recession many employers have turned to hiring workers without offering any kind of fringe benefits.

1Q Jobless Rate Hits 5.3%

The January-March unemployment rate reached 5.3%, against 5.1% in the first quarter of 2009, the National Statistics Institute (INEGI) said Friday.

The report said another 365,000 working-age individuals joined the informal economy in the first quarter, reaching a total of 12.5 million people, or 28.6% of the work force (Economically Active Population) which now stands at 43.6 million persons.

INEGI is severely criticized by labor experts because to calculate the jobless rate it uses the same methodology as countries with unemployment insurance and Mexico does not have that type of coverage. Thus, the real jobless rate is believed to be closer to 19% to 20%, similar to Spain’s. Also, the real share of the underground, or informal, economy is believed to be much closer to 50% of the full economy.