© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Workers are seen inside a building under construction in Mexico City, Mexico January 30, 2020. REUTERS / Andres Martinez Casares
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s economy unexpectedly shrank 0.2 percent in October from the previous month, as the country’s sluggish recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic dragged into the fourth quarter, data showed. Officially showed on Friday.
Figures from the national statistics agency INEGI showed October’s seasonally adjusted slump was the third straight month of decline in economic activity.
A Reuters poll of analysts had forecast the economy would grow 0.8 percent in October after a disappointing third quarter in which gross domestic product (GDP) down 0.4%.
Compared to the same month last year, the economy in October grew by 0.3% in seasonally adjusted terms. According to INEGI data, in unadjusted terms, it is down 0.7%.
Mexican business has been disrupted by bottlenecks in international supply chains, leading to temporary job shutdowns in industries including auto manufacturing, a mainstay of the manufacturing sector focused on exports of this country.
But analysis of the INEGI figures showed a decline in October due to weakness in tertiary activities, including services, and by primary activities, including farming, fishing and mining.
Primary activity fell 1.2% from September, while tertiary activity fell 0.5%. By contrast, secondary activities, including manufacturing, rose 0.6 percent.
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