MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Vicente Fox said on Friday that employment was beginning to rebound after jobless figures hit their highest level in six years in August amid a manufacturing slump.
Speaking in Japan after failing to clinch a free trade deal with the country on Thursday, Fox said 90,000 jobs had been created in Mexico over the last six weeks, according to a speech released by the presidency in Mexico.
He said the number of workers registered with the Mexican Social Security Institute had increased by 49,000 in the first two weeks of October.
Fox took power in 2000 promising soaring economic growth and the creation of millions of jobs, but Mexico hit a recession in 2001 and the economy has not fired on all cylinders since. Mexico is lagging behind the recovery in the United States, where it sends 85 percent of its exports.
According to official figures, more than half a million jobs have been lost in the country since Fox took office.
Japan and Mexico failed to clinch a two-way free trade agreement on Thursday despite last-ditch efforts to resolve differences over politically sensitive farm products such as pork and orange juice.
Mexican unemployment figures for September are due for release on Oct. 21.
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