Crisis. The construction sector has been one of the hardest hit by the lack of jobs, with at least 75 percent of builders affiliated with the Heavy Machinery Manufacturers Association reporting unemployment in 2024.
Job creation has been one of the weak points of the current state administration headed by Esteban Villegas Villarreal in Durango.
In the first half of this six-year term, formal job creation has fallen far short of the figures promised by state authorities.
Official data reveal that the number of formal workers has only grown by 378 jobs in three years, far from the 16,000 announced at the beginning of Villegas Villarreal’s administration.
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND PROMISES
State authorities confirmed during the latest government report that this administration has managed to attract 28 new investments to the state, which would generate 16,373 direct jobs, more than 80,000 indirect jobs, and an income of eight billion dollars.
“Durango is experiencing a historic moment of economic growth with the arrival of new investments and expansions from global companies,” they stated in an official statement.
They also offered a list of companies that are investing in Durango’s future, many of which were already established but would require expansion to create the thousands of new jobs promised.
However, the formal employment registry published by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), which reports monthly how employment is growing or decreasing in each state in the country, does not match the figures claimed by the state government.
According to official IMSS data, at the start of the current administration, on September 15, 2022, Durango had 257,495 formal jobs. That was the figure recorded at the end of August of that year.
Three years later, at the end of August 2025, the official figure is 257,873, representing a growth of just 0.1 percent.
That is, in absolute terms, the formal worker registry increased by only 378 jobs, a far cry from the 16,373 reported by state authorities in their government speeches.
FULL YEAR
In 2022, the current state administration was only responsible for the last few months, which served as justification for the employment figures being used at the time.
However, from August to December of that year, 777 formal jobs were lost, a drop attributed to the debt left by the administration of former Governor José Rosas Aispuro Torres, which affected several local businesses.
THE DROP CONTINUED
During 2023, with Villegas Villarreal now in full control of the State Government, the year began with 256,778 jobs and closed with 256,548, representing a loss of 230 formal positions in its first full year.
The second year of the current administration, 2024, was billed as “The Year of Durango.”
However, this was not the case either, as it began with 256,548 jobs and closed with 256,588. In other words, during that period, only 40 formal jobs were created with Social Security across the state.
The situation hasn’t changed much in the third year, as in the first eight months of 2025, IMSS figures show the creation of 1,285 formal jobs, a growth far removed from the announced goals and the figures presumed in the previous report.
AS IN THE PANDEMIC
Just last July, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) reported a loss of 906 formal jobs in the state of Durango, bringing the cumulative loss for the first seven months of the year to just 1,589 jobs registered with the IMSS, the lowest figure since the pandemic.
In the period from July 2024 to July 2025, the job loss figure in the state totaled 836 formal jobs, in addition to a growth in informal employment, which reached 51.2 percent of the Economically Active Population (EAP).
Source: elsiglodedurango
