Census Figures Show More Women at Work

(Acapulco, AN 3 November) Preliminary results of census data gathered in 2009 show that employment of women has increased, especially in Costa Chica, to the south and east of Acapulco. The census bureau (INEGI) reports that women comprise 45.6% of Guerrero’s workforce overall, a sizeable increase over previous years. The increase of women in the workforce was most notable in certain municipalities of the Costa Chica, namely Tlacoachistlahuaca, Xochistlahuaca, Cuautepec and Juchitán, where the rates varied from 65% to 77%.

Acapulco had the greatest number of employed persons with 144,661, followed by Chilpancingo with 41,101, Zihautanejo with 29,718, Iguala with 28,698 and Taxco with 23,531. These five municipalities, the largest in the state, account for 64.1% of all employed persons in Guerrero. The numbers may seem low when compared to the total population of the municipalities in the state (approximately 20%), but the data do not reflect all the “off-book” laborers that support the informal sectors of the economy, which fly under the radar of the governmental authorities.