Worse-than-expected slowdown for the Mexican economy

The Mexican economy slowed down during November. The Global Indicator of Economic Activity (IGAE) registered a decrease of 0.45 percent, compared to October, the month in which it stagnated, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).

The drop in the data was higher than the Timely Indicator of Economic Activity (IOAE) which expected a contraction of 0.13 percent per month, according to seasonally adjusted figures.

“With the monthly drop reported in November and the stagnation registered the previous month, the IGAE trend becomes slightly negative. With this, the difference to reach the previous maximum increases from -0.5% to -1.0%," Monex's deputy director of economic analysis, Janneth Quiroz, wrote on her Twitter account.

The IGAE data show that in November tertiary or service activities dragged down all activity, being the only ones with a monthly decline. This item had a decrease of 0.94 percent and linked two months with negative data, similar to what happened in May and June 2022.

According to the IOAE, the contraction of services would be 0.26 percent.

Within the nine tertiary activities, six had monthly falls; the deepest occurred in temporary accommodation services and food and beverage preparation with 1.76 percent, followed by wholesale trade with 1.42 percent.

In secondary activities, there was a slight advance of 0.02 percent monthly in November, better than the estimated contraction of 0.07 percent of the IOAE.

Of the four sectors that make up the secondary sector, monthly falls were observed in two: mining with 0.45 percent, and manufacturing, with 0.49 percent, which represented its steepest decline since September 2021.

While primary activities saw a monthly rebound of 5.31 percent last November, its strongest data since March of the same year.

In annual terms, the IGAE had a rebound of 3.46 percent in November 2022, its weakest advance since July of the same year.

The primaries grew 6.54 percent; tertiary, 3.33 percent, and secondary, 2.94 percent.