Mexico Trade Gap Narrows; Jobless Rate Falls Unexpectedly

(RTTNews) - Mexico's foreign trade deficit decreased in September from a year ago, as exports grew faster than imports, data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography showed on Thursday.

Separate official data revealed that the unadjusted jobless rate dropped unexpectedly in September.

The trade deficit for September was $0.895 billion, decreased from $2.324 billion in the corresponding month last year.

Exports showed an annual increase of 25.4 percent, and imports also registered a double-digit growth of 20.8 percent.

Non-oil exports grew 25.0 percent from last year and a 30.8 percent surge was observed in oil exports.

On a monthly basis, exports rose a seasonally adjusted 4.98 percent, while imports dropped 0.67 percent.

Another report showed that the unadjusted jobless rate dropped to 3.3 percent in September from 3.5 percent in August. Economists had forecast the rate to remain stable at 3.5 percent.

There were 1.984 million unemployed people in September, down from 2.110 million in the previous month.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the jobless rate dropped to 3.1 percent in September from 3.2 percent a month ago.