Mexico feels economic effects of U.S., global woes

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Inflationary pressures are rising. Remittances are falling. Mexico’s economy is slowing. So is job growth, writes Marla Dickerson from Mexico City.

Mexico’s central bank released a string of bad news Wednesday confirming that the nation is feeling the effects of a U.S. slowdown and exploding global prices for food and fuel.

The Bank of Mexico revised its inflation expectations sharply upward to a high of 6% for the fourth quarter. That’s well above the 5.26% annualized rate recorded in June and double the central bank’s long-term target.

Mexicans have long fled to the United States when things got tough at home. But tight employment conditions north of the border may dissuade some from making the trip.

Money wired home by Mexicans living outside the country, most of them working in the U.S., totaled $11.6 billion through the first six months of the year, according to figures released Wednesday. That’s down 2.2% from the same period last year -- the longest sustained drop since the Bank of Mexico began tracking the flows in the mid-1990s.

Read on about Mexico’s financial woes here.