Mexico Loses Nearly 600,000 Jobs

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's Treasury department says the country has lost 596,200 jobs since June 2008, a 4.1 percent decline as of June of this year.

Many Mexicans who lose formal jobs turn to unregistered activities like street vending.

The department's report on second-quarter economic activity says GDP shrank by 10.4 percent on an annualized basis in the period, similar to the central bank estimate released earlier this week of 11 percent.

Total exports are down 31.7 percent from June 2008.

The department's report Thursday blamed the declines on "an adverse external environment" and the swine flu outbreak in Mexico that caused widespread shutdowns of commercial activity.