UPDATE 1-Mexico jobless rate rises to 3.55 pct in June
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MEXICO CITY, July 18 (Reuters) - Mexico's jobless rate in June came in slightly higher than expected at 3.55 percent, the national statistics agency said on Friday.
A Reuters survey of analysts had forecast an unemployment rate <MXUNR=ECI> of 3.50 percent for the month.
The unemployment rate was 3.24 percent during the previous month, and was 3.26 percent in June 2007.
Mexico's economy is slowing as its top trading partner, the United States, goes through a sharp downturn. Industrial production, which makes up nearly 40 percent of the economy, slipped 1.2 percent in May.
The unemployment figure is not considered a very accurate picture of Mexico's jobless rate because of how it is measured, but analysts sometimes refer to it as a gauge of likely changes in consumer demand. (Reporting by Luis Rojas Mena; Editing by James Dalgleish)
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