Since last year, Querétaro began to report positive figures that allow some productive sectors to be alerted of its next recovery, despite the economic crisis that the health pandemic caused by COVID-19 originated this year.
According to the Monthly Manufacturing Industry Survey, published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), there is an improvement in the production value of products made in the manufacturing industry. Although, between the months of April and June 2020, there were casualties in this area, compared to the figures for 2019 (-30.8% in April, -39% in May, and -8.2% in June), for the months of July and August there were already slight increases (1.7% and 3.1%, respectively).
The manufacturing sector occupies the main share of the share and distribution of gross domestic product (GDP). Data from the Querétaro Secretariat for Sustainable Development (Sedesu) show that manufacturing accounts for 29.4% of state GDP, wholesale trade, 11.6%; construction, with 10.3%; and retail trade, 10.1%.
Employment data has also improved. José Medina Mora Icaza, general secretary of the Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) Nacional, stated that in Querétaro 34,636 formal jobs were lost between March and July 2020, representing 6% of all formal work of the entity. By October, however, 17,154 places in the state had recovered, or 49.5% of what was lost to the health contingency.
According to the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), between the last quarter of 2019 and the first bimonthly of 2020, Querétaro ranked third in both annual growth in formal employment and the highest average contribution salary.
Several productive sectors in the entity seek to recover this trend. This is the case of the plastics industry, which has had moderate impacts on this pandemic, said Venancio Pérez Gómez, president of the Plastics Cluster of the State of Querétaro. Therefore, it considered the early recovery of employment viable.
“Most plastics companies did not stop, the companies we are representing not only manufacture a product or division, but are in agriculture, medicine, automotive, appliances and everything. Plastic reaches all 360 degrees,” he said.
Some of these sectors are more in demand than others; however, in the last quarter of 2020, they had the need to hire new staff, the business leader said. According to Inegi, the production value of products produced by the plastics and rubber industry increased by 5.8% in July 2020, compared to 2019, and 5.6% in August 2020 in its annual comparison.