The sector showed contractions in production, employment, and hours worked.
Mario Alavez Reporter, El Cronista México Updated July 16, 2026, 19:50 Mexican manufacturing is beginning to show signs of a slump amidst the turbulence caused by Donald Trump's tariff policy and the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). According to data from Inegi, presented in the Monthly Manufacturing Industry Survey (EMIM), three of the four indicators comprising this index showed year-over-year contractions in May of this year. The sharpest decline was in the number of employed personnel—that is, jobs—which fell by 2.1% year-over-year. The manufacturing sector accounts for the highest number of formal jobs in the country, representing approximately 37% of the total, according to IMSS data. You might also be interested in: Not even manufacturing is spared: Formal employment sees its worst first half since 2004. By type of hiring, outsourced personnel showed the largest year-over-year drop, with a 4% reduction, while direct company employees decreased by 2% year-over-year.
Blue-collar workers saw the sharpest drop in employment, falling 2.3%, while administrative staff numbers contracted by 1.6%. Additionally, INEGI reported a 1.6% year-on-year decline in hours worked within the sector, while manufacturing output contracted by 0.1%. The only indicator to show a positive result for the month was average real wages, which rose by 1.5%. Contrasting production trends Mexican manufacturing is divided into 20 major subsectors; 14 of these recorded year-on-year declines during the period in question. The three steepest declines were recorded in the electrical equipment manufacturing sector (-8.9%), followed by the apparel manufacturing industry (-6.2%) and the wood products industry (-6.1%). Conversely, computer equipment manufacturing continues to lead manufacturing growth in the country with a 9.3% increase—a figure far exceeding the 2.3% rise in basic metal industries or the 2.1% growth in the non-metallic mineral products industry.
https://www.cronista.com/mexico/finanzas-economia/la-sombra-del-t-mec-deprime-a-la-manufactura-mayo-registra-contraccion-en-empleo-y-produccion-en-mexico/?outputType=amp-type 
