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XINHUA

While the Mexican government has admitted that at least 500,000 workers have already lost their jobs due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Mexican-based HR Ratings is predicting twice that many jobs will be lost in the second quarter of 2020.

On Wednesday, May 8, the agency projected a 36 percent nosedive in Mexico’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter this year due to the covid-19 pandemic.

HR Ratings estimated that the full-year GDP in Mexico would drop 7.4 percent and its formal job creation would decline 4 percent.

The average unemployment rate was projected to be 6.3 percent in 2020, up from the 2.94 percent estimated in March, according to the latest official data.

By 2021, Mexico’s GDP could grow 2.4 percent, according to the agency’s projections.

In 2019, Mexico saw a 0.1-percent shrink in GDP, much slower than its 2 percent growth in 2018.

…May 9, 2020