Mexico’s Economy Shrank Most in More Than 25 Years

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Bloomberg

Mexico’s Economy Shrank Most in More Than 25 Years (Update2)
By Jens Erik Gould

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico’s economy contracted at the fastest pace in more than 25 years last quarter as the global recession and swine flu caused a plunge in industrial output and services.

Latin America’s second-largest economy shrank 10.3 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the national statistics agency said today. Manufacturing shrank 16.4 in the second quarter and the service industry contracted 10.4 percent.

Mexico’s slump has deepened and job losses have accelerated as the recession in the U.S., which buys about 80 percent of the nation’s exports, saps demand for manufactured goods. Still, seasonally adjusted quarterly data shows the economy performed better in the second quarter than in the first.

“The economy had a heart attack and you’re starting to see a recovery,” said Rafael de la Fuente, chief Latin American economist at BNP Paribas SA in New York. “The bottom of the recession is behind us.”


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=agGIL_otYf1M

[Judi Lynn]

1. Mexican economy shrinks by 10.3 percent in 2Q

Mexican economy shrinks by 10.3 percent in 2Q
Associated Press, 08.20.09, 04:35 PM EDT


MEXICO CITY -- The National Statistics Institute says Mexico's economy contracted by 10.3 percent in the second quarter and by 9.2 percent for the first half of the year compared to same periods in 2008.

The institute says gross domestic product declined by 8.0 percent in the first quarter.

The agency said Thursday the quarterly decline was led by a 16.4 percent drop in manufacturing, a 9.2 percent decline in construction.

Commerce was off 20.9 percent and transport was down 13.7 percent.

The contraction was slightly less than projections by the central bank and Treasury Department, which predicted a 10.4-percent drop for the quarter.

Mexico has been hurt by the downturn in the U.S., it's largest trading partner.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/08/20/business-lt-mexico-economy_6800451.html

[hunter]

3. Nothing to do with oil, nope, no way.

:yoiks:

It's one huge multiple vehicle ice storm highway wreck.

Mexico is 10% off the highway, the U.S. is grinding the center barrier strip.

[lib2DaBone]

2. But we saw fit to GIVE them $900 Million to piss away on the War on Drugs

[MisterP]

4. they've had neolibs or cons in power since '82

according to the IMF and NAFTAites (wherever they are now), they should be as rich as three Japans--right? (same goes for Honduras and the Dominican Republic)

[IDemo]

5. “The bottom of the recession is behind us.” Don't think so.

Only in the last line of the article is the 200 ton elephant in the room mentioned: Standard & Poor’s cut the outlook on Mexico’s debt to “negative” from “stable” in May because of the country’s dependence on oil revenue.

An earlier Bloomberg column lays out the problem a little more clearly: Pemex Cantarell Output Drops 34% on Spending Limits