Brazil’s unemployment rate reveals a firm downward trend, which should become more solid over the course of President Lula’s Administration. This affirmation comes from the Minister of Labor and Employment, Ricardo Berzoini.
Berzoini gave this rosy assessment while participating, earlier this month, in the opening of the seminar “Brazil-Canada: Challenges to Job Creation,” at the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) in Brasília.
He commemorated the generation of 2.3 million formal job positions during the current Administration, in consequence of overall domestic economic growth, which registered a 5.2% increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2004.
He also foresaw the creation of “many more jobs” as a result of the changes proposed in the union reform project sent by the Executive to the National Congress.
Berzoini said the the growth registered during these two years of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Administration “is reason for commemoration but not complacency.”
He emphasized the need for a more coordinated effort between the government and entrepreneurs for the country to consolidate its economic recovery even more, with more investments and the subsequent creation of jobs.
Industrial Production
Industrial production in January was down 0.5% in comparison with December, 2004. Compared with January, 2004, however, it was up 6.0%.
During the 12 months ending in January, the index rose 8.5%. This result maintains the upward trend and represents the highest level of growth since July, 1995, when it registered 10%.
These data are part of the Monthly Industrial Survey of Physical Production – Brazil, released March 9 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
In the assessment made by the IBGE, the start of 2005 indicates that growth is continuing, when longer time periods are compared. When the comparison is confined to more recent periods, the level of production evidences a certain degree of stability.
Translation: David Silberstein
Agência Brasil