Industrial production and employment trends shift in Argentina and Mexico

Industrial activity in Argentina and Mexico shows divergent trends in production and employment for July 2026.

In Argentina, INDEC reports that industrial capacity utilization fell to 58%, meaning 42% of factory machinery remained idle. While petroleum refining (89.9%) and basic metal industries (71.8%) saw growth, other sectors faced significant declines, including the automotive industry (39.0%), metalworking (38.3%), and textiles (45.3%).

In Mexico, manufacturing production volume grew by 0.9% monthly and 1.6% annually. However, the sector faces a continuous decline in employment, marking the seventh consecutive monthly drop in occupied personnel. The automotive manufacturing sector specifically saw a 3.3% annual decrease in staff, continuing a downward trend observed since the start of the year. Conversely, the computing subsector reported a 4.7% increase in employment.