Mexican economy generates 120,000 jobs in 6 weeks: president

The Mexican economy created 120,000 net new jobs during the six weeks of September and the first half of October, as it recovered from a deep collapse, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Tuesday.

The job creation was mainly due to the central government's lending conducted to fight the country's recession, triggered by a sharp drop in exports to its northern neighbor the United States and the world financial crisis, Calderon told the opening session of the Small- and Medium- Sized Enterprises (SME) Week Conference. SMEs account for seven out of 10 Mexican jobs.

"We have already generated 64 billion pesos (4.83 billion U.S. dollars) of credit that is benefitting over 73,000 small and medium sized companies in the country," Calderon said.

Mexico's economy dropped 10.3 percent in the second quarter year on year, however officials said last week that the economy gained a 2.7 percent year-on-year increase in the third quarter.

"Thanks to temporary work programs and work preservation programs, but above all thanks to the SME funding, it was possible to avoid more serious damage to employment," the president said.

The recession wiped out 1.5 percent of Mexico's net jobs this year, less than a sixth of the decline seen in 1995, when Mexico endured a debt crunch combined with a forced devaluation that became known as the "Tequila Crisis."

Mexico now appears to be emerging from the crisis thanks in part to a recovery in the United States, which buys around 80 percent of Mexico's exports.

The U.S. economy began to dramatically worsen in December, 2007, but now is staggering out of the financial crisis.

Source:Xinhua