Formal employment in the steel industry in Mexico broke the positive trend of the last 34 months in February, with a marginal decrease of 0.2 percent, year-over-year, totaling 141,994 workers. Nuevo León, the largest employer in Mexico, registered a new historical record with 29,260 people, according to SteelOrbis analysis of official data.
After a 14-month period, from February 2020 to March 2021, of contraction in hiring, there followed a 34-month period of annual increase in employment that generated 20,229 new jobs.
Despite the decrease in the national average, Nuevo León stood out with a new historical record with 29,260 people, a figure that represented an annual increase of 2.7 percent or 756 more people compared to February of last year. That number represents 20.6 percent of the total, with which the state remains the largest employer in the country in said industry.
In addition to Nuevo León, Sonora and Hidalgo recorded new historical employment records in February. The first is ranked #13 and the second is ranked #15.
Of the 32 states, employment increased in 18 with a total of 96,958 people, a figure that represented 68.3 percent of the total. In the remaining 14 where employment decreased there were 45,036 people or 31.7 percent of the total.
In February, 2,578 new jobs were created in the 18 states. Nuevo León stood out with 756 new jobs, Jalisco (550), Chihuahua (307), Michoacán (220) and Guanajuato with 180 more jobs. In contrast, 2,853 jobs were destroyed in 14 states, with Mexico City (119), Puebla (135), Tamaulipas (318), Baja California (781) and Coahuila, the birthplace of the steel giant Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) standing out. ), with a destruction of 1,253 jobs in the state.
With companies such as Ternium, Ladesa; the Mexican unit of Signode Industrial Group, and the Mexican AB Tube (Maquilacero) and Zincacero of Grupo Villacero, just to mention a few, Nuevo León remained the state with the highest hiring.
From the statistics analyzed by SteelOrbis, two states stand out for job loss: Guanajuato lost 5,998 jobs from its peak level in April 2019 with 17,894 workers to 11,896 last February. Coahuila lost 2,002 jobs from its all-time high of 20,662 in August 2022 to 18,660 last February.
The information corresponds to the records of the social security institute (IMSS) of the Basic Metals Industry.
According to official data, the Basic Metals Industry is made up of five industries: 1) Basic iron and steel industry, 2) Manufacturing of iron and steel products, 3) Basic aluminum industry, 4) Non-ferrous metal industries (copper and precious metals) and 5) Casting molding of metal parts.
In February, the industry contributed 2.35 percent of total manufacturing employment (6.05 million workers) and 0.64 percent of total formal employment in Mexico, which totaled 22.29 million workers.