Overview
- INEGI’s monthly labor survey, which reported Friday, counted 594,288 jobs added in February and a 2.6% unemployment rate, yet employment remained below late‑2025 levels after January’s larger loss of about 705,000 jobs.
- Most of the gains came from services, with 474,791 new positions and 225,504 in commerce, reflecting a bounce concentrated in the tertiary part of the economy.
- Independent work made up 57% of February’s additions and unpaid work also grew, while roughly 54.9% of new positions were formal, which still did not make up for January’s loss of about 450,000 formal jobs.
- Informal work reached 33 million people, or 54.8% of all workers, and underemployment rose to 7.0%, equal to about 4.2 million people who want more hours.
- The ENOE survey also put the economically active population at 61.9 million with 60.3 million employed, showing a large workforce but a recovery leaning toward lower‑pay and lower‑security roles.