Mexico's Exports and Imports

For this weeks blog I'm going to talk about the leading imports and exports of Mexico. The definition of import is to bring in merchandise, commodities, etc. from foreign countries for use or sale. An export is to ship merchandise, commodities, etc to other countries for sale, exchange, etc. As I have said before in my previous blogs, the U.S. is one of Mexico's top exporters and importers. According to Foreign Trade Statistics, Mexico exported $198.3 billion dollars worth of merchandise in 2006. That is 16.5% more merchandise than the year 2005. Some of the leading exports to the U.S. are crude oil, car parts, computers, engines and parts and other goods.

In 2006 $134.2 billion dollars worth of merchandise had been imported to U.S. from Mexico. Some of the leading imports are plastics, car parts, industrial machines, and other goods. Other countries that are main import partners are Japan and China. China imports electromechanical equipment, household appliances, textiles and high-tech products. I hope I have enlightened you on some of the countries Mexico trades with and some of the materials that are imported and exported between countries.

Money in Mexico

This week in Economics we talked about money. According to my notes money is any commodity or token that is generally accepted as means of payment. In this weeks blog I will be talking about the money in Mexico. Mexican money is referred to as "pesos". One peso is worth 100 Mexican cents (centavos). Mexican banks print bills in 20 50 100 200 500 and 1000 pesos. There are many different banks in Mexico, Scotiabank, Inverlat, Banamex/Citibank, and BBVA - Bancomer being the largest.

Banco de Mexico is considered the central bank to Mexico. Banco de Mexico is translated into the Bank of Mexico as you can probably already tell . The main jobs of this central bank is to provide currency to the domestic economy according to http://www.banxico.org/. Like the Federal Reserve in America, regulate payment systems, operate as the last resort for credit institutuions. They also operate central banks with financial issues.

Capital of Mexico, Mexico City

This weeks blog will be about the capital of Mexico, which is Mexico City or La Ciudad de Mexico. Mexico City is very economically important to Latin America. As we have been learning in class GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product, which means the value of all the final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. How this correlates with Mexico City is that, this city produces around 21.8% Gross Domestic Product of the country according to http://www.mexicocity.com/v/economy/. This city has the largest amount of banks, insures and includes the Mexican stock exchange called Bolsa Mexicana de Valores. This translates to the Mexican Stock Exchange. Mexico City also has the 30th most largest economy of all cities in the world today.

Another important fact for Mexico is the vehicle industry is growing at a very rapid pace. In Mexico City you can travel by taxi, bus subway or motor vehicle. They also have many parades and celebrations due to Cinco de Mayo the celebration of victory from the French, Dia de la the Independencia the War of Independence and many more. Mexico City has more to offer than one can see until you visit. I have been to this city many times and it is a wonderful place to site see and spend a week visiting.

Unemployment in Mexico

As we learned in economics this week, many countries including Mexico undergo high unemployment rates. As I write this blog, I will be talking about the different types of unemployment and how they effect the country's economy. According to http://www.universia.net/, the unemployment rate in Mexico has shot up from .72% to about 3.8% in the past five years. As we learned in class, the term underemployed means people whom would like to find a full time job but can only find part time. As this term coordinates with the fact that a recent graduate in a Mexico city has any chance of finding a full-time job that meets the standards of the degree they have received.

There are four types of unemployment we discussed in our class this week, they include seasonal, frictional, structural and cyclical. The most popular type of unemployment in Mexico is cyclical. Many employed Mexicans are either fired because of a cut in salaries due to the shortage of money in a company. The lower salaries being given to Mexican workers is how large companies keep producing. In the end they can offer their customers competitive prices, according to Juan Castingts professor at the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City. As the unemployment rate in Mexico is fairly high, it is considered to be a stable country today.