out of 38 in 2021. improvements to universal child care may narrow these differences, though the full effects will take time. other populations may also benefit from improved labour market access, including indigenous people, who have a younger and faster - growing population than many other groups. potential for remote work, as well as training to develop skills in areas with critical labour shortages, may open new opportunities for groups facing local labour market challenges. and companies need to do their part to attract and retain new segments of the labour force. by adjusting to and taking advantage of structural changes in the labour market, canada can increase the sustainable growth rate of our economy. an aging population reduces the participation rate, and higher immigration is becoming increasingly important for canada ’ s potential growth. changes brought by globalization and technological change, especially digitalization, will also continue to affect labour demand and the skills employers need. the net effect on maximum sustainable employment is something we will be working to assess. an increased supply of workers raises the rate the economy can grow without generating inflationary pressures. but enhancing supply takes time. it also creates new demand. new workers will have new incomes, and that will add to spending in the economy. that ’ s why increasing supply, while valuable, is not a substitute for using monetary policy to moderate demand and bring demand and supply into balance. conclusion it ’ s time for me to conclude. since the onset of covid - 19, the labour market has been in tremendous turmoil. the pandemic caused a surge in unemployment and had a terribly uneven impact, exacerbating the inequality already faced by women, youth and marginalized workers. we were very concerned about widespread job losses, deep cuts in consumer spending and, ultimately, deflation. but the recovery was swift and across the board, with the fastest rebound in employment ever. now the economy has gone too far in the other direction. the economy is in excess demand, the job market is too tight, and inflation is too high. monetary policy has begun to have an impact, but it will take time for the effects of higher interest rates to spread through the economy and reduce demand and inflation. once we get through the slowdown, growth will pick up and our economy can grow solidly again with healthy employment and low inflation. how much employment growth we can achieve while maintaining low inflation will depend on the growth of labour supply. this is the fundamental concept that maximum sustainable employment captures. it is not maximum employment — it ’ s how much employment

amounts to about 27 percent of gdp, one of the lowest ratios among emerging markets. surprisingly, manufacturing makes a stagnant contribution to growth in aggregate productivity. inadequate infrastructure may help explain this. finally, labor productivity gains in agriculture, given emigration, are lower than expected. institutional rigidities which inhibit scale and technological adoption could play a role. 5 the negative implications of the absence of competition are evident in the energy sector, which until recently was the exclusive terrain of government - owned enterprises. in the last few years, despite ample natural fields, mexican crude oil and natural gas production has been declining. this contrasts with a revolution in production in countries such as the united states. even further, mexico cannot import enough natural gas cheaply because of a limited pipeline network. due in part to lack of availability of cheap natural gas supplies, mexican electricity prices, on average, approach twice u. s. rates. 6 another example is the telecoms sector, which has faced limited competition. as a result, the penetration of fixed - line and mobile phone services is still low by international standards. additionally, indicators for internet services suggest that the services are inferior to those available in many nations. mexico ’ s current reform agenda seeks to tackle many of these inefficiencies. the agenda covers a wide range of sectors, including labor, education, finance, telecoms, and energy. generating the most interest for investors are the changes in the telecommunications and energy sectors. in telecoms, reforms now allow players to offer triple - play services, provided market non - concentration requirements are met. limits on fdi have been reduced. in energy, the gates are now open to private agents, with contracts in exploration and extraction for oil and hydrocarbons allowed. permits in gas processing and oil refining, transportation, storage, distribution, and commercialization are also provided for, as is participation in electricity generation and sales. well implemented, these reforms could boost productivity in laggard sectors in the medium term. to the extent that some of them provide essential inputs to the economy as a whole, overall efficiency gains may be realized. to reap the full benefits from the reforms, other complementary measures should be taken, such as strengthening the rule of law, improving public security, and fortifying infrastructure. economic developments and outlook after a year and a half of weakness, the mexican economy started to pick up this year. second - quarter figures were strong, and several recent indicators suggest momentum is sanchez, m. ( 2013