Mexico's gross domestic product (GDP) fell 8.2 percent during the first quarter of 2009, the country's National Statistics Agency said Wednesday.
Trade slumped a whopping 17.2 percent during the first quarter while manufacturing fell 13.8 percent. Manufacturing was likely stymied by problems in the United States, which consumes 80 percent of Mexico's exports but began a long recession in December 2007. Domestic trade has suffered because of a credit crunch that wiped out lendings to consumers and businesses.
Services fell 7.8 percent in the quarter. Real estate and transport services also declined 10.6 percent and 10.3 percent.
Seasonally adjusted figures showed a quarter-on-quarter decline of 5.88 percent in the first three months this year. Enditem