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The
updated figures showed the economy contracted by 0.1%
quarter-on-quarter in seasonally-adjusted terms during both the
first and second quarters of 2019 after also shrinking by the
same margin in the last three months of last year.
A recession is usually defined by economic experts as two
consecutive quarters of contraction in gross domestic product.
In a preliminary estimate published at the end of October, the
agency reported that the economy grew by 0.1 percent during the
July-September period. However, that figure was revised down to
show the economy stagnated.
Investor confidence in Mexico, Latin America's second largest
economy, has been shaken by a number of policy moves made by
Lopez Obrador, a leftist exponent of economic nationalism.
The veteran politician took office in December 2018 pledging to
ramp up growth to four percent per year. Instead the economy has
slowed, and he has sought to deflect criticism by saying poorer
parts of Mexico have benefited more from his policies.
In particular, his decision to cancel a partly built, $13
billion airport for Mexico City and his retreat from the prior
government's opening of the oil and gas industry to private
capital have raised doubts about his economic management.
In unadjusted terms, the economy shrank 0.3 percent from a year
earlier during the third quarter, the data showed.
(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Toby Chopra and Steve
Orlofsky)
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