Mexico’s industrial production remains unchanged during March

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Mexican industrial production remained unchanged in March from the previous month as lower construction and manufacturing output was offset by an improvement in oil and gas production, according to figures by the National Statistics Institute.

In seasonally adjusted terms, manufacturing slipped 0.3% and construction was down 0.2% from February, while mining activity rose 0.1% and utilities output was up 0.5%.

Compared with March of 2016, industrial production rose 3.4% as a result of the Easter holiday moving this year to April. Economic activity tends to slow sharply during Holy Week, when many companies close for at least two days and workers take vacations.

Despite the pickup from February, mining output remains the main drag on industrial production while manufacturing has been buoyant. In the first three months of the year, manufacturing output rose 4.8% from a year earlier with strong gains in automotive production and electronic equipment. Mining output in the quarter was down 10.8%, including an 11.6% drop in oil and gas production.

With March's increase, industrial production rose 0.5% in the first quarter from the first quarter of 2016, above the institute's previous estimate of 0.2%.

MexicoNow