Mexico | Formal labor market weakens despite historical highs

Summary

Formal employment reached a record high in July 2025 due to the incorporation of digital platform workers. Excluding this effect, there was a net destruction of jobs, in a context of declining investment and weak consumption.

Key points

• Key points:
• In July, formal employment reached a record high of 23.59 million workers, of which 1.29 million were employed by digital platform companies. Excluding this effect, an annual contraction of (-)0.1% is estimated, equivalent to a loss of 25.3 thousand jobs compared to June.
• Weakness in investment and consumption, combined with negative expectations from consumers and businesses, creates an unfavorable environment for a short-term recovery in employment.
• The transportation and communications sector concentrated most of the incorporation of digital platform workers, posting an annual growth of 71%; excluding this effect, its increase would have been only 1.6%.
• The incorporation of digital platform workers put downward pressure on real wages, which grew by only 0.8% in July.
• The real wage bill showed only ‘apparent dynamism,’ recording annual growth of 6.5% driven by the massive incorporation of digital platform workers; excluding this effect, the increase would have been just 3.0%, below its historical average.

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