Mexican Remittances Fall at Lowest Rate in 8 Months

By Crayton Harrison

Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Mexican remittances fell 14 percent in November, the smallest decline in eight months, as U.S. job cuts slowed.

Money sent from workers living outside Mexico declined to $1.5 billion in November from $1.75 billion in the same month a year earlier, the central bank said today on its Web site. It was the smallest decline since a 0.55 percent drop in March.

Mexicans in the U.S. may have benefited as U.S. job losses reached their lowest in 23 months, signaling that the economic recovery is pulling the labor market out of its slump. Employers cut 11,000 jobs in November, bringing the total decline in the U.S. job market to 7.2 million jobs since December 2007.

The decline in remittances to Mexico peaked in October with a record 36 percent drop from a year earlier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Crayton Harrison in Mexico City at tharrison5@bloomberg.net

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