by Jesus Garcia
for La Opinion
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mexican migrant community has achieved a significant job recovery, which has resulted in an increase in the shipment of remittances to Mexico that in 2021 will impose a record shipments, the highest recorded in 18 years.
In addition to the job opportunities taken advantage of by Mexicans in the United States, the aid funds granted by the federal governments to legal migrants and some states for undocumented people have contributed to improving income and, therefore, sending resources to Mexico, highlights a report by the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies, the Forum of Remittances of Latin America and the Caribbean and Remittances
"During 2021, Mexico's income from remittances from abroad has shown high growth financed mainly by a significant increase in the wage bill of Mexican immigrant workers in the United States, which in turn has originated from a significant recovery in their employment levels accompanied by higher average salaries," the report indicates.
The experts Jesús A. Cervantes González, Denisse Jiménez and Cindy Sánchez, authors of the report highlight that the figures contemplated are as of October of this year, but by December the amounts will be updated, setting the record.
"Remittance income has also been favored by the financial support granted by the US Government to individuals and households in that country," it was indicated.
In the first ten months of 2021, remittance income totaled $42,168 million and at the end of October they amounted to $49,206 million.
"Probably throughout 2021 remittances will slightly exceed $50 billion," he highlights. "In 2021, Mexico's income growth from remittances will be the highest recorded in 18 years."
From January to October, the annual growth of remittances was very high, experts indicate, since it was 25.6%, although they recognize that annual impact "measured in constant pesos or in purchasing power" was lower, due to the price of the dollar.
"This considering that the peso/dollar exchange rate in the period January-October 2021 of $20.16 pesos to the dollar (which) was lower than that recorded in the same 10 months of 2020, of $21.76 pesos to the dollar and also in that period an average annual inflation of 5.3% was observed," the report indicates.
Mexican migrants have an important presence in the US labor market. 20.1% of its population works in construction, 7.1% in manufacturing, 17.2% in agriculture and 5.4% in lodging and food.
