In October 2015, the total number of salaried employed persons in industry fell 0.7% over the previous month level, in the seasonally-adjusted series. It was the tenth consecutive negative result, registering a cumulative loss of 6.8%. Considering these figures, the quarterly moving average index had a negative change of 0.7% in the quarter ended in October 2015 over the previous month and kept the downward trend started in April 2013. In the comparison with the same month a year ago, the industrial employment posted a drop of 7.2% in October 2015 - the 49th consecutive negative result in this type of comparison and the most intense of the time series (December 2000). In the cumulative index in the year, the total employed persons in the industry registered a drop of 5.9%, a sharper pace of decline than that of the first semester of the year (-5.2%), both comparisons against the same periods of the previous year. Having reduced 5.6% in October 2015, the annualized rate – cumulative index in the last 12 months – registered the sharpest negative result since the beginning of the time series and continued the downward trend started in September 2013 (-1.0%).

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Short-Term Indicators of Industry
Brazil - October 2015

*Seasonally-Adjusted Series
Source: IBGE, Diretoria de Pesquisas, Coordenação de Indústria

In the comparison with the same month a year ago, the industrial employment shrank 7.2% in October 2015, with the contingent of workers decreasing in the eighteen segments surveyed, with a highlight to the negative pressures coming from means de transportation (-13.4%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-15.2%), machinery and equipment (-10.1%), fabricated metal products (-11.2%), rubber and plastic (-11.0%), food and beverages (-2.2%), other products of the manufacturing industry (-10.6%), wearing apparel (-7.2%), textiles (-10.2%), non-metallic mineral products (-8.0%), basic metals (-8.3%), footwear and leather (-5.7%), paper and press (-3.3%), mining and quarrying industries (-4.9%) and wood (-5.0%).

In the cumulative index over the ten months of the year, industrial employment dropped 5.9%, with negative rates in the 18 sectors surveyed. The most relevant negative contributions to the national average came from means of transportation (-10.9%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-13.5%), fabricated metal products (-10.6%), machinery and equipment (-7.8%), food and beverages (-2.4%), other products of the manufacturing industry (-9.4%), wearing apparel (-5.7%), footwear and leather (-7.0%), basic metals (-7.1%), rubber and plastic (-4.1%), textiles (-5.0%), non-metallic minerals (-3.8%), paper and press (-3.4%) mining and quarrying industries (-4.6%).

Number of hours paid accumulated drops of 6.5% in the year

In the seasonally-adjusted series, the number of hours paid to the workers of industry in October 2015 declined 0.9% over the previous month, the eighth negative rate in a row and accumulated a loss of 7.1% in the period. With these results, the quarterly moving average index recorded reduction of 0.9% in the quarter ended in October 2015 in comparison with the level reached in the previous month and has remained on an downward trend started in May 2013.

In the comparison with the same month a year ago, the number of hours paid to industrial workers retreated 8.1% in October 2015, the twenty-ninth consecutive negative rate in this type of comparison and the most intense since the beginning of the time series. In the cumulative index of the January/October period of 2015, there was retraction of 6.5%, intensifying the pace of decline in the end of the first semester (-5.8%) - both comparisons versus the same period in the previous year. The annualized rate – cumulative index in the last 12 months – going from -6.1% to 6.4% in October, registered the sharpest negative result since the beginning of the time series and continued the downward trend started in September 2013 (-1.0%).

In October 2015, the number of hours paid declined 8.1% when compared with the figure in the previous month. There was widespread decrease, since 17 of the 18 sectors surveyed recorded reduction. The main negative influences came from means of transportation (-15.2%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-16.2%), machinery and equipment (-10.8%), rubber and plastic (-11.8%), fabricated metal products (-11.5%), food and beverages (-2.5%), non-metallic mineral products (-9.7%), other products of the manufacturing industry (-11.6%), textiles (-10.6%), wearing apparel (-7.1%), basic metals (-11.9%), footwear and leather (-8.2%) and paper and press (-4.7%). On the other hand, the only positive result was recorded by chemicals (0.2%).

In the cumulative index over the ten months of 2015, there was decrease of 6.5% in the number of hours paid and the eighteen sectors registered reduction. The most relevant negative impacts on the overall average of industry were reported in the sectors of means of transportation (-12.0%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-12.9%), fabricated metal products (-10.9%), machinery and equipment (-8.5%), food and beverages (-2.7%), other products of the manufacturing industry (-10.2%), footwear and leather (-9.0%), wearing apparel (-5.4%), rubber and plastic (-5.9%), basic metals (9.4%), non-metallic minerals (-5.2%), paper and press (-4.4%), textiles (-4.6%), petroleum refining and ethanol production (-7.9%), mining and quarrying industries (-4.2%) and wood (-5.8%).

In summary, the total number of salaried employed persons and the number of hours paid in industry kept, in October 2015, the low-intensity behavior: the former posting the tenth consecutive negative figure in the comparison with the previous month and the latter registering the eighth month of decline in a row in the same kind of comparison. It is worth mentioning that these figures particularly reflect the decreasing pace of the industrial output since the last quarter of 2013, with a reduction of 15.1% since October of that year. In that same period, the total number of employed persons and of hours paid also recorded losses: -10.9% and 12.2%, respectively. The evolution of the quarterly moving average index stresses this picture of a lower intensity of the labor market in the industry, since this indicator has kept, in both variables, the prevailing negative behavior since the end of the first semester of 2013.

The signs of low dynamism were also clear in the comparison between the third quarter of the year with the monthly index of October of 2015, both comparisons against the same periods a year ago. The analysis shows that both the salaried employed persons (from -6.8% to -7.2%) and the number of hours paid (from -7.5% to -8.1%) highlighted the negative behavior, following the downward movement of the industrial output, which changed from -9.6% to -11.2% in this period.

Real payroll declines 10.3% in October 2015 over October 2014

In September 2015, the seasonally-adjusted real payroll of industry workers retreated 0.8% against the previous month, the fourth consecutive negative rate, accumulating a reduction of 5.3%. The index this month showed the negative influence of the manufacturing industry (-1.0%), which reported negative rates for the tenth month in a row, as well as of the mining and quarrying sector (-2.4%). With these results, the quarterly moving average index for the industry overall declined 1.2% in the quarter which ended in October 2015 in comparison with the level reached in the previous month and kept the downward trend started last February.

The value of the real payroll retreated 10.3% in the monthly index of October 2015, the seventeenth consecutive negative rate in this kind of comparison and the sharpest one since the beginning of the time series. In the cumulative index for the ten months of 2015, the value of the real payroll of the industry registered a drop of 7.1%, a sharper pace of decline than that of the first semester of the year (-6.2%), both comparisons against the same periods of the previous year. Having reduced 6.6% in October 2015, the annualized rate – cumulative index in the last 12 months – registered the sharpest negative result since the beginning of the time series and continued the downward trend started in January 2014 (1.6%).

Compared with the same month last year, the value of the real payroll dropped 10.3% in October 2015, reflecting negative figures in the 18 sectors surveyed, highlighted by means of transportation (-15.7%), machinery and equipment (-13.1%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-14.5%), fabricated metal products (-15.8%), basic metals (-15.1%), food and beverages (-4.4%), mining and quarrying industries (-11.0%), rubber and plastic (-10.8%), paper and press (-8.8%), other products of the manufacturing industry (-13.1%), textiles (-12.3%), non-metallic mineral products (-7.8%), wearing apparel (-7.7%), footwear and leather (-10.0%), oil refining and ethanol production (-7.8%) and chemicals (-2.2%).

In the cumulative index in the ten months of 2015, the value of the real payroll retreated 7.1%, posting negative rates in the 18 activities surveyed, mainly pressed by the drops coming from means of transportation (-12.1%), machinery and equipment (-7.0%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-12.3%), food and beverages (-3.7%), fabricated metal products (-11.4%), basic metals (-10.6%), mining and quarrying industries (-7.2%), rubber and plastic (-6.6%), other products of the manufacturing industry (-9.6%), footwear and leather (-9.6%), paper and press (-4.0%), non-metallic mineral products (4.1%), textiles (-6.1%), oil refining and ethanol production (-6.4%) and chemicals (-1.8%).