Employment in the transportation, communications, postal and warehousing sector in Mexico registered a decrease during August 2026, in contrast to the growth observed in the Mexican labor market as a whole.
According to the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE), prepared by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) , the sector accounted for three million 492 thousand 509 people employed in the eighth month of the year , a drop of 1.89% compared to the same month of 2025, when it was three million 559 thousand 873.
This behavior contrasts with the overall performance of the country’s labor market. In August 2026, the employed population in Mexico reached 60.7 million people , an annual increase of 1.2 million, while the Economically Active Population (EAP) reached 62.6 million, 1.3 million more than the previous year.
Logistics lags behind other activities
The reduction recorded in transport, communications, mail and storage occurred while other tertiary activities showed significant progress.
The largest annual increases were seen in miscellaneous services with 790,000 people employed, restaurants and accommodation services with 538,000, professional, financial and corporate services with 247,000, government and international organizations with 242,000, and construction with 146,000 people.
In contrast, the sectors that experienced the greatest decline were agriculture, livestock, forestry, hunting and fishing with 290,000 fewer people; manufacturing with 263,000; and commerce with 161,000 fewer people at an annual rate.
What does this mean for logistics?
This data does not necessarily imply a contraction in logistics demand. Rather, it shows that job growth is not uniform across the activities that make up the supply chain .
Transportation, communications, postal services, and warehousing are activities particularly linked to the behavior of commerce, manufacturing, and the movement of goods. Therefore, the annual reduction of 67,364 people in the sector can be interpreted as a sign that, despite the expansion of some service activities, adjustments persist within segments associated with this activity.
Furthermore, this data should be viewed in conjunction with the performance of the manufacturing and trade industries, which also experienced declines in their employed population during the period.
The labor market continues to grow, but with both positive and negative aspects.
Nationally, the result for August 2026 was moderate expansion. The economic participation rate was 59.3% annually , while the unemployment rate stood at 3% annually.
At the same time, salaried employment reached 41.7 million people, one million more than in August 2025. Self-employment also increased by 342,000 people.
However, some indicators show that the quantitative growth in employment coexists with quality challenges. The rate of informal employment stood at 55% , equivalent to 33.4 million people.
Meanwhile, the underemployed population was 4.3 million people , 64,000 more than last year, although the underemployment rate remained practically stable at 7 percent.
According to INEGI, the National Survey of Occupation and Employment shows the behavior of the Mexican labor market. It provides monthly data on the economically active population, employment, informal employment, underemployment, and unemployment.
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