The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) said that in the period July-September the total number of unemployed was 1.8 million people.

During the period, the economically active population rose to 61.4 million people – 378 thousand more than in the third quarter of 2023 – and represented 60.4 percent of the population aged 15 and over.

A total of 59.5 million were employed, 361 thousand more than in the same period in 2023, according to the release.

The additional figure, Inegi adds, worked in restaurants and lodging services, where 194 thousand more people earned their living; transportation, communications, mail and storage, saw 148 thousand more workers; agriculture, livestock, forestry, hunting and fishing, registered an additional 129 thousand; 124 thousand went to social work, and 70 thousand to the construction sector.

The population employed in large and medium-sized establishments grew by 269 thousand and 132 thousand citizens, respectively; while the underemployed population was 4.8 million people and represented 8.0 percent of the employed population, the same as in the third quarter of 2023.

During the third quarter of this year, the highest rates of labor informality by states were reported in Oaxaca (81.1 percent), Guerrero (78.3), Chiapas (76.1) and Hidalgo (70.5).

The lowest, meanwhile, were recorded in Coahuila (34.6), Nuevo León (34.9), Baja California Sur (35.5) and Chihuahua (35.9).

Among the cities with the highest underemployment rate are Ciudad del Carmen (18.3 percent), Coatzacoalcos (12.8), Tlaxcala (12.6), León (12.3) and Mexico City (10.5); while the lowest were in Aguascalientes (1.5), Querétaro (1.6), Tijuana (1.7), Toluca (2.2) and Guadalajara (2.3).

During the third quarter of 2024 and based on seasonally adjusted figures, the unemployment rate at the national level was 2.8 percent, similar to that of the previous quarter.

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