In April 2015, the number of salaried employed persons in industry recorded decrease of 0.9% in comparison with the figure in the previous month, in the seasonally adjusted series. It is the fourth negative result in a row, with cumulative decrease of 2.1% in the period. With these results, the quarterly moving average index recorded negative change of 0.6% in the quarter which ended in April 2015, versus the level reached in the previous month, and has remained on a downward trend since April 2013. In April 2015, industrial employment faced decrease of 5.4% in comparison with the result of same month a year ago, registering its forty-third consecutive negative result in this type of comparison, and the lowest one since September 2009 (-6.1%). Considering the cumulative index in the first four-month period of 2015, total salaried employed persons in industry fell by 4.8%, with more significant decrease than in the same period in 2014 (-4.3%). Both comparisons are against the equivalent period in the preceding year.  The cumulative index in the last four months, fell by 4.1% in April 2015 and has remained on a downward trend since September 2013 (-1.0%).

The complete publication is available at: www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/indicadores/industria/pimes/

Industrial employment fell 5.4% in April 2015, in comparison with the 2014 figure, with decrease of the numbr of workers in the 18 subsectors surveyed, the main highlight being the negative contributions from: means of transportation (-10.5%), fabricated metal products (-10.8%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-12.4%) food and beverages (-2.7%), machinery and equipment (-6.8%), other products from manufacturing industry (-8.7%), footwear and leather (-7.9%), wearing apparel (-5.4%), basic metals (-6.5%), oil refining and alcohol production (-2.5%), paper and press (-2.6%) and textiles (-2.5%).

In terms of the cumulative index in the first four months of the year, industrial employment recorded decrease of 4.8%, with negative rates in the 18 subsectors surveyed. The main negative contributions to the national average came form means of transportation (-9.2%), machinery, electronic appliances and communication apparatus (-12.0%), fabricated metal products (-9.7%), machinery and equipment (-5.5%), food products and beverages (-1.8%), other products from manufacturing industry (-8.4%), footwear and leather (-7.4%), wearing apparel (-4.5%), basic metals (-6.3%), paper and press (-3.1%), oil refining and alcohol production (-6.8%), mining and quarrying industry (-4.3%) and textiles (-2.6%).

Number of hours paid is 1.1% smaller in April

In April 2014, the number of hours paid to industry workers, in the seasonally adjusted series, fell by 1.1% in the comparison with the immediately previous month. It was the second consecutive negative rate, with cumulative decrease of 1.5%. With these results, the quarterly moving average index recorded change of 0.5% in the quarter which ended in April 2015, versus the level reached in the previous month, and has remained on an upward trend since May 2013.

In comparison with the same month in the previous year, the number of hours paid by industry workers fell 6.0% in April 2015, the twenty-third negative rate in a row in this type of comparison since September 2009 (-6.1%). Considering the cumulative index in the first four-month period of 2015, the number of hours paid in industry fell by 5.4%, with bigger increase than in the equivalent period in 2014 (-5.0%). Both comparisons are against similar periods in the preceding year. The annualized rate, the cumulative index in the last twelve months, changed from -4.6% in March to -4.8% in April, and has been on a downward trend since September 2013 (-1.0%).

In April 2015, the number of hours paid fell 6.0% when compared with the figure in the previous month. There was widespread decrease, since all the 18 subsectors surveyed recorded decreases. The main negative influences came from means of transportation (-11.5%), food and beverages (-3.3%), metal products (-11.1%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-11.2%), machinery and equipment (-7.5%), footwear and leather (-11.6%), other products from manufacturing industry (-8.8%), wearing apparel (-5.5%), basic metals (-7.3%), oil refining and alcohol production (-9.9%), non-metallic minerals (-3.8%), paper and press (-3.7%) and mining and quarrying industry (-4.6%).

In the cumulative index of the first two months of 2015, there was decrease of 5.4% in the number of hours paid, with decline in the 18 subsectors surveyed. The most significant negative impacts on the overall average of industry came from means of transportation (-9.7%), fabricated metal products (-10.4%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-10.3%), food and beverages (-2.5%), machinery and equipment (-6.6%), other products from manufacturing industry (-9.3%), footwear and leather (-9.6%), wearing apparel (-4.6%), basic metals (-8.0%), paper and press (-4.3%), non-metallic minerals (-3.5%), oil refining and alcohol production (-8.5%) and mining and quarrying industry (-3.8%).

In summary, the total salaried employed persons and the number of hours paid in industry kept their low intensity. The former recorded the fourth negative result in a row; the second recorded decrease, as in the previous month. It is worth mentioning that these results represent the deceleration which has characterized industrial output since the last quarter of 2013, with decrease of 10.3% since October 2013. In this same period, the number of employed persons and the number of hours paid also recorded decreases: -6.4% and -6.9%, respectively. The evolution of the quarterly moving average reinforces this scenario of lower intensity of the job market in industry, once this indicator has had a predominantly negative performance in the two variables, since the end of the first semester of 2013.

The signs which indicate less dynamism were also clear in the comparison of the last quarter of 2014 with the first four-month period of 2015. The two comparisons are against equivalent periods in the previous year. Both salaried employed persons (from -4.3% to -4.8%) and the number of hours paid in industry (from -5.0% to -5.4%) remained with a negative performance, following the decrease recorded in the industrial output, which changed from -3.5% in the third quarter of 2014, to -6.4%, in terms of cumulative index for the first four months in the year.

Real payroll falls 5.0% in the first four months

In April 2015, the real payroll of industry workers (seasonally-adjusted) recorded decrease of 0.9% in comparison with the figure in the immediately previous month, after having faced decreases in January (-0.7%) and February (-0.6%), and slight increase (0.1%) in March. It is important to highlight that this month shows the negative influence of both mining and quarrying industry (-3.5%), after rise of 11.9% in the previous month, and of manufacturing industry (-0.7%), which remained recording decrease for the fourth month in a row. With these results, the quarterly moving average index recorded negative change of 0.5% in the quarter which ended in April 2015 in comparison with the level reached in the previous month, after recording negative change of 0.4% last March.

In comparison with the same month a year ago, real payroll decreased by 5.3% in April 2015, the eleventh consecutive negative rate in this type of comparison. Considering the cumulative index in the first four-month period of 2015, the number of hours paid in industry fell by 5.0%, with bigger increase than in the same four-month period in 2014 (-3.8%). Both comparisons are against equivalent periods in the preceding year. The annualized rate, the cumulative index in the last twelve months, having recorded decrease of 3.3% in April 2015, recorded the biggest negative result since December 2003 (-4.2%), having remained on a downward trend since January 2014 (1.6%).

In the comparison with the same month in the previous year, real payroll recorded decrease of 5.3%, in April 2015, with negative results in fifteen of the eighteen subsectors surveyed, the main highlights being means of transportation (-1.1%), machinery and equipment (-5.4%), fabricated metal products (-9.8%), food and beverages (-3.1%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-8.3%), basic metals (-8.9%), mining and quarrying industry (-5.9%), oil refining and alcohol production (-6.2%) and textiles (-4.5%). On the other hand, the sector of rubber and plastic, with increase of 1.6%, accounted for the main positive contribution in the month.

In terms of the cumulative index in the first four months of 2015, real payroll recorded decrease of 5.0%, with negative rates in the eighteen 18 activities surveyed, mainly affected by the decreases observed in means of transportation (-9.4%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-10.4%), fabricated metal products (-10.3%), machinery and equipment (-3.7%), basic metals (-7.5%), mining and quarrying industryf (-5.0%), food and beverages (-1.7%), footwear and leather (-9.6%), other products from manufacturing industry (-7.05), rubber and plastic (-2.6%) and paper and press (-1.8%).