Mexico's jobless rate fell to a five-month low in September but significant labour market slack and the impact of slowing US economic growth still point to an interest rate cut soon, analysts said. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate slipped to 5.26 percent from August's downwardly revised 5.39 percent, the national statistics agency said on Friday. That took the rate to its lowest since April, the data showed.
Still, the jobless rate remained well above levels seen before the deep 2008-2009 recession and analysts said bets would remain firm that the central bank will cut borrowing costs in the coming months to support the economy. "There is still plenty of slack in the labour market," said Neil Shearing, an analyst at Capital Economics in London. "There is no capacity pressure and growth will slow over the next 12 months." Policymakers have said they are open to cutting rates if the economy weakens and inflation is hovering just above the central bank's target rate of 3.0 percent.