Newly released official statistics show 60 percent of Mexico’s labor force work in the underground economy, paying no taxes and claiming no social security benefits.

Employees in Mexico will be expecting a little extra in their pay packet prior to Christmas. The aguinaldo (Christmas bonus) is a long-standing tradition in Mexico and is specified in Article 87 of the Federal Labor Law.

As President Obama wrestled with the fiscal cliff standoff in the United States, Mexico’s newly elected chief executive flew the flag for  “tripartisanship,” signing the “Pact for Mexico” within 24 hours of his inauguration.

Mexico’s massive public healthcare institute isin a desperate financial situation with 88 percent of its budget destined for salaries and pensions.

State-owned oil monopoly Pemex has made the biggest discovery of petroleum in Mexico in the last decade, President Felipe Calderon announced on Sunday.  Initial estimates suggest the Navegante 1 field in Tabasco will yield from 500 million to one billion barrels of crude oil.

Upon leaving office on Saturday, President Felipe Calderon will be entitled to a larger pension than any former president in the United States, Europe or Latin America.