Neighboring Sonora is starting 2022 with strong jobs growth.

From December to January, Sonora added nearly 14,000 formal jobs, bringing the state total to more than 640,000, recent federal data show.

Jobs figures in the state typically fall at the end of the year, and then rebound. However, the jump this January is the largest since 2008, and the fourth largest since at least 1998. It’s also one of the most significant month-to-month rises during the pandemic.

While formal jobs are a significant part of the workforce, the federal data do not consider the informal economy, where many Sonorans and workers across Mexico labor.