The level of employment in the Brazilian industry in 2004 presented the best result since 1990. The rate of growth was 1.9%. In comparison to the month of December 2003, the increase was 4.4%. With regard to the fourth quarter of 2004, when compared to the same period in the previous year, the increase in the number of people employed was 4.3%.
These figures are included in the Monthly Industrial Employment and Income Research, published yesterday by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The food and drink sectors (6.6%), machinery and equipment (16.0%) and means of transport (16.5%) were those that employed most in December last year.
The 4.4% growth in the monthly level was the result of the increase in the level of employment in 13 of the 14 areas and in 13 of the 18 sectors investigated.
In the Northern and Midwestern regions, the number of people hired grew 8%. São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil, was the state that contributed most to this growth, registering an increase of 4.6% in the level of employment.
The state is responsible for around 38% of industrial employment in the country, and 12 sectors hired more than they fired, with special attention to the machinery and equipment sectors (26.1%) and means of transport (16.6%).
According to the study, Rio de Janeiro, also in the Southeast, had the lowest rate of growth (1.4%).
When comparing December 2004 to December 2003, the level of industrial employment only dropped in Rio Grande do Sul (-0.9%), due to reductions of the number of employees in eight industrial sectors, especially leather shoes (-12.4%).
In the global total for the country, the number of employees dismissed was greater than the number of employees hired in five areas, being the main negative impacts those of the metal products (-4.1%) and leather shoe (-3.7%) sectors.
Translated by Mark Ament
Agência Brasil