Slow growth for Mexico's economy

Mexico's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.1 percent in the second quarter of 2019, slightly above what analysts predicted, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the national statistics agency INEGI. 

According to an online Reuters survey, the country's economy is "weighed down by a slump of industrial production, declining investment and a weakening of the vast service sectors," as well as "flat" manufacturing activities.

Data showed Mexico's economy shrank 0.2 percent in the first quarter. In adjusted terms, the economy grew 0.4 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2018; however, in unadjusted terms, it shrank 0.7 percent, according to another Reuters report.

An economist at Capital Economics told Reuters the data paints a picture of a struggling economy.

"The key point is that this is really, really weak," he said.

According to Reuters, economists define two consecutive quarters of negative GDP as a recession.

While President  Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador predicts an annual growth rate of 2 percent, Reuters notes there is also risk of economic disruption from tension with the United States over illegal immigration. The report also says that analysts are now predicting "little expansion at all" in Mexico in 2019.