Overview
- INEGI’s May 2026 ENOE showed open unemployment climbed to 2.8%, up 0.3 percentage points and the highest level in eight months, driven by 190,071 people entering the unemployed population.
- Monthly figures show a loss of roughly 194,585 employed people in May, with about 58% of those cuts coming from formal jobs rather than informal work.
- Total employment remains higher year‑on‑year at about 60.4 million people, an annual gain of roughly 438,000, which contrasts with the short‑term monthly downturn.
- Broader measures of underutilization worsened: extended unemployment rose to 10.2% as 5.2 million people in the non‑economically active group reported availability to work, and the rate of critical employment conditions climbed from 36.3% to 38.7% year‑on‑year.
- Government and analysts offered competing frames after the release: the Labor Ministry highlighted the record employment total while INEGI and independent experts warned the data show informalization, falling job quality, and risks to household incomes and consumption.