However, the latest monthly job survey found that from August to September there a drop of 0.23%, representing a loss of some 6,000 jobs.
Most of the lost jobs were in the food segment (4,574) where a downturn in sugarcane production and reduced activity in the meat industry took place. This was the worst September in São Paulo since 2006 when the state job survey began.
According to André Rebelo, a Strategic Affairs aide at Fiesp – the São Paulo Manufacturers Federation – the September result was expected. “Until recently interest rates were still climbing and credit was restricted,” he pointed out.
There is also competition from imports that has forced a slowdown in hiring, Rebelo added. He went on by saying that a bright note was that Brazil continues to attract international capital.
Rebelo says that although the strongest drops in employment were in meats, ethanol and sugar, there were negative employment results in 11 of the 22 segments the survey examines.
He says expectations are that employment levels at the end of the year will be up only 0.5%, compared to 2010. And that will be much weaker that in 2010, when jobs were up 4.74%, compared to 2009.
Public Transportation
The São Paulo city legislative assembly (Câmara Municipal) and a non-governmental organization, Rede Nossa São Paulo, led a public consultation, called “You in the Legislature” (Você no Parlamento), to find out what the population considered the city’s priorities. A total of 33,400 people were interviewed and the number one problem cited, by 77.41% of those interviewed, was public transportation.
And the message was that the government should focus more on collective transportation rather than individual transportation (that is, buses, trains and subways as opposed to cars). In the poll, 58.95% called for lower prices for buses, trains and the subway.
The coordinator-general of Rede Nossa São Paulo, Oded Grajew, pointed out that the city invested a lot in tunnels, avenues and ring highways around the city (vias marginais) and very little in public transportation. There is a clear incoherence between what the public wants and where the money goes,” he said.
Also scoring high in the public consultation was a demand for more efficient treatment of urban waste and improvements in public health services. Both items had similar scores: 75.30% of those interviewed said the disposal of solid waste should be another priority.
While 75.24% wanted a more rapid response from the public health system, with emphasis on faster access to doctors and exams for the citizen.
According to the president of the Câmara, José Police Neto, the results were not a surprise. But it will help convert popular projects into benefits for the population.
Oded Grajew, of Rede Nossa São Paulo, says his organization will compare the city budget for next year with the demands in the consultation.
He said that in general the government has not met the expectations of society. “There is a great deal of dissatisfaction concerning the items the population thinks should be priorities,” he declared.