The unemployment rate stood at 2.4%, the same level as a year before, which confirms that the labor market continues to show resistance in aggregate terms. However, behind this stability there is a sectoral rearrangement and greater dependence on self-employment.
An analysis by Monex warns that job creation is not coming from sectors with higher productivity, but from activities with less stability and greater turnover, which introduces risks going forward.
Manufacturing, the focus of weakness
One of the main focuses of attention is manufacturing, which lost around 238,000 jobs in December compared to the previous year. Added to this is the drop in social services, with a cut of close to 300,000 positions, which reinforces the idea of a cooling in the secondary sector of the economy.
This weakness contrasts with the good performance of sectors such as commerce, agricultural activities, and accommodation and food services, which absorbed a good part of the employment growth, although with more fragile labor structures, says the Monex report.
In addition, the labor informality rate rose to 54.6%, while the rate of critical employment conditions—which reflects adverse combinations of income and hours—rose to 38.4%.
“Towards 2026, the labor market points to an environment of greater fragility, characterized by lower job creation and greater pressures on the quality of employment,” Monex explained, adding that the increase in the minimum wage this year will add more difficulty to companies.
