The private sector in Mexico generated 61,023 jobs with social security in June 2026, according to data published by the Mexican Social Security Institute. The result represents a monthly increase of 0.3%, offsets the destruction of 29,922 jobs recorded in May, and becomes the second-best month of the year, only surpassed by February, and the highest for a sixth month in five years.
The June data was enough for the second quarter to close in positive territory. Between April and June, the country generated 55,024 net positions, making it the best April-to-June period in the last three years. At the close of the sixth month, Mexico has accumulated 22,779,704 registered jobs with the IMSS, a figure that is 1.2% above the level at which it closed 2025 and only 0.3% below the historical maximum reached in November of that year.
Zoé Robledo, general director of the IMSS, highlighted during the presidential morning conference that the country's unemployment rate is 2.7%, the second lowest among the 38 OECD countries, only behind Japan with 2.5%. "These data are especially relevant in the complex international context and confirm the strength of formal employment in our country," he noted. The average base contribution salary of registered positions reached 669.1 pesos at the end of June, equivalent to 38 dollars, with a growth of 6.4% compared to the previous year.
The sectors that drove growth in June were transportation and communications, commerce, financial services, technology, tourism, construction, and public health and education services.
However, the positive June data does not erase the broader trend of the year. In the first half of 2026, 262,628 jobs were created, which places this first semester among the two worst in 17 years for that period, excluding only 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic. The International Monetary Fund recently lowered its growth forecast for Mexico, arguing that continued uncertainty will limit economic activity despite less restrictive domestic policies. Various international organizations have revised their growth estimates for the country downwards on multiple occasions during 2026.
From next+'s perspective, the June employment data illustrates the tension that defines the Mexican labor market at this moment: solid short-term indicators coexisting with a weaker-than-expected medium-term trend. That Mexico has the second-lowest unemployment rate in the OECD is a real asset. That the first semester of 2026 has been one of the two worst in job creation in 17 years, excluding the pandemic, describes a market that resists without growing at the pace the economy would need to absorb new workers who join each year. For human resources and leadership teams making hiring decisions in this environment, the most useful signal is not the June number itself, but the combination of low unemployment with low net job creation, which in practice means more competitive labor markets for attracting specialized talent in the sectors that are growing.