For the first time in months, the number of formal jobs in Sonora rose in August. 

After five straight months of losses, federal data show employment rolls in Sonora fell by nearly 40,000 jobs through the end of July. But in August, the state added more than 2,000 jobs, according to numbers presented during a press conference this week with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

“It’s only bested by the state of Baja California, and higher than every other state in the Mexican Republic,” said Luis Nuñez, spokesman for Sonora’s economic reactivation effort.

Baja California added roughly 6,600 jobs. Sonora was recently was deemed yellow on the federal coronavirus semaforo — or traffic light — system, allowing for even more businesses to open. New cases have been declining in recent weeks, according to data tracked by the Universidad de Sonora.