Mexican Economy Maintains Growth in First Quarter
April 28 2017 - 9:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Anthony Harrup
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's economy kept up steady growth in the
first quarter, expanding for a 15th consecutive period despite
concerns that strained trade and investment relations with the U.S.
will bring about a sharp slowdown.
Gross domestic product, which measures output of goods and
services, grew 0.6% seasonally adjusted from the fourth quarter of
2016, and was up 2.7% from the year-earlier period, the National
Statistics Institute said Friday. The quarterly increase, which
translates into an annualized rate of 2.4%, was down slightly from
0.7% in the previous quarter.
Services continued to be the main driver of growth in the
January-March period, rising 1% from the previous quarter, while
industrial production was unchanged.
The 2.7% expansion from a year earlier was boosted by the shift
in the Easter holiday to April this year, as economic activity
tends to slow sharply during that week. Adjusted for calendar and
other seasonal effects, output increased 2.5% from the first
quarter of 2016.
The statistics institute is scheduled to release its next report
on first-quarter GDP on May 22.
Mexico's economic growth has been modest but steady for more
than three years. The last time output contracted was in the second
quarter of 2013.
The election of U.S. President Donald Trump led economists to
lower expectations for growth as Mr. Trump seeks to renegotiate the
North American Free Trade Agreement, and is critical of U.S.
companies moving factories to Mexico and then exporting the
production to the U.S.
The economy has so far proven more resilient than many expected,
and a number of analysts have recently begun raising their
forecasts. GDP grew 2.3% in 2016.
Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 28, 2017 09:44 ET (13:44 GMT)
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