MEXICO CITY President-elect Felipe Calderon named his first Cabinet ministers Tuesday, mostly U.S.-educated economists with deep experience, whose job is to turn economic stability into growth and jobs, keys to reducing illegal immigration to the U.S.

The six choices in the "economic Cabinet," analysts said, are mostly political independents, but none are identified with the Mexican left or leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost the presidency by 0.5 percent of the vote on July 2.

Calderon, who takes over from President Vicente Fox on Dec. 1, has promised a pluralistic Cabinet.

Analysts said the Cabinet picks amounted to more of the same in terms of economic policy, basically a recipe of controlling government spending to maintain stability while seeking foreign investment and a positive business climate to stimulate growth.

Financial analysts and the stock market applauded that continuity. The key index at the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores stock market rose 1.6 percent Tuesday, reaching a record 24,585 points.

"They are all people who are well-versed in what they do, but they have more political experience than those in the Fox government," said Jonathan Heath, chief economist for the HSBC bank in Mexico.

The new ministers also bode well for Calderon's goal of drawing more foreign investment to Mexico, the bulk of it from the United States, as well as stimulating the domestic economy.

"I think it's positive for everybody, not just outside Mexico, but inside Mexico," said Heath.

Critics said the Cabinet picks would ensure a continuation of decades-old economic policies, recommended by the U.S., that have not pulled the majority of Mexicans out of poverty and would fail to do so once again.

"These are new people with old ideas," said economist Rogelio Ramirez de la O, an adviser to Lopez Obrador. "We think the Calderon government and the Fox government have been wrongly compromised by the monopolies and the vested interests."

Fox has defended his government's economic policies, saying economic stability has reduced poverty for millions of Mexican families and is gradually creating a bigger middle-class with greater buying power.

Calderon said his choices are part of his campaign promise to be the "jobs president."

"Today, Mexicans demand that the government not waste a single minute of its time. They know that Mexico needs an economy that grows more rapidly, at higher rates and in a sustained way and that growth brings concrete benefits to the people by generating well-paid jobs," he said.

"We Mexicans know that the only truly effective way to combat poverty and inequality is the generation of jobs."

The top pick in the "economic Cabinet" was Agustin Carstens, who has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago. He will head the powerful Finance Ministry, or Hacienda, which collects taxes and controls spending and the national debt.

"Dr. Carstens is a very competent economist, dedicated to Mexico, with experience both nationally and internationally and with great technical preparation and great negotiating capacity," Calderon said.

One of Calderon's first battles will be passing a budget in December through a Congress in which his conservative National Action Party, or PAN, does not have a majority in either house.

The new head of the Economics Ministry, Eduardo Sojo, has been an adviser to Fox since 2000. That ministry is similar to the U.S. Commerce Department.

Heading the Communications and Transportation Ministry will be Luis Tellez, a former chief of staff and energy minister under President Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000). Tellez has a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The first female head of the Energy Ministry is Georgina Kessel, who has worked at the state-owned oil company Pemex and led the "investment unit" at the Finance Ministry, her official biography says. She has a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University.

The Labor Ministry will be run by Javier Lozano, an economic consultant who has worked in the Finance Ministry and Pemex. The Tourism Ministry will remain in the hands of Rodolfo Elizondo, a former Fox spokesman.

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Political commentator Lorenzo Meyer said the principal economic posts in the Calderon government go to so-called Hacienda boys, referring to the political links among finance ministers going back decades while Mexico has remained mired in poverty.

"Right now, it does not seem like there is any decision to change things," Meyer said.

Meyer said the U.S. dominates the hemisphere economically and politically, making it difficult for any Latin American government to shift toward economic policies in which the state would have a larger role.

"It's not like the U.S. ambassador says who should be in the Cabinet. It's more indirect, but it is a limiting factor," he said.