Last week, this newspaper reported on Jalisco’s recent employment coup; the state was the country’s top job creator for 2017, topping the State of Mexico and CDMX.
However, a big caveat dampening self-congratulation among Jaliscienses was the fact that a big portion of the newly created jobs were, in fact, posts which had already existed but had merely “legitimized” themselves by being formally registered with the Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social (IMSS).
So it is apropos that we explore the nation’s informal, underground economy this week, with the help of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).
INEGI reports that the national rate of informal employment during the last two months of 2017 was 56.8 percent. This means that well over half of the country works in jobs that don’t offer the protective pluses that come with official employment, such as social security and benefits.
According to INEGI, 7.2 percent of the working population were “under employed,” that is, employed but not working enough hours or not drawing enough of a salary to meet their needs.
Those states which saw unemployment increase in the final months of 2017 were Baja California, Colima, Chihuahua, Hidalgo, Morelos, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Veracruz and Zacatecas. INEGI further detailed that Tabasco’s unemployment rate is double that of the nation.