In March 2012, the industrial employment changed -0.4% over the previous month, in the seasonally adjusted series, after recording -0.3% in January and 0.1% in February. As a result, the quarterly moving average index, after recording -0.2% between the quarters ended in February and March, kept the downward trend started in October 2011. Still concerning the seasonally adjusted series, in the quarter over immediately previous quarter comparison, the industrial employment fell back 0.3% in the three first months in 2012, the second consecutive quarter with a negative rate, in this period there was an accumulated loss of 0.9%. Compared with March 2011, the industrial employment posted a drop of 1.2%, the sixth consecutive negative result in that type of comparison and the most intense since December 2009 (-2.4%). The index accumulated in the first three months of 2012 contracted 0.8% over the same period in the previous year.  The annual rate, index accumulated in the last 12 months, grew 0.2% in March 2012, keeping the downward trend started in February 2011 (3.9%)

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In the March 2012/March 2011 comparison, the industrial employment contracted 1.2%.  The contingent of workers reduced in nine of the 14 areas surveyed. The main negative impact on the overall average was observed in São Paulo (-3.2%), pushed at a great extent by the negative rates in 14 of the 18 sectors surveyed. The highlight was the drop in the total number of employed persons in the industries of fabricated metal products (-14.3%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-8.3%), basic metals (-16.8%), textiles (-8.3%), paper and press (-4.9%), rubber and plastic (-4.2%) and apparel (-5.2%). The negative results posted by the Northeast region (-2.4%) were influenced by the decreases in the sectors of apparel (-8.9%), footwear and leather (-6.7%) and textiles (-11.7%); in Santa Catarina (-1.4%), by the drops registered in wood (-15.3%), apparel (-3.5%), fabricated metal products (-9.1%) and footwear and leather (-15.6%); in Ceará (-3.2%), by the reductions in apparel (-7.6%), footwear and leather (-4.5%) and textiles (-9.1%); and in Bahia (-3,0%), due to retractions in the employed persons in the industries of  footwear and leather (-12.6%), other products in the manufacturing industry (-22,8%) and food and beverages (-4.7%).

On the other hand, Paraná (3.2%) and Minas Gerais (1.9) marked the main positive contributions on the industry employment in the country. In the industry in Paraná, the major positive influences came from food and beverages (8.8%) and communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (37.4%), whereas in Minas Gerais the highlights were basic metals (7.5%), mining and quarrying (8.6%) and fabricated metal products (6.5%).

Among the sectors, considering the monthly index, the industry employment receded in 11 of the 18 sectors surveyed. The highlights were the negative results from apparel (-6.8%), fabricated metal products (-6.2%), footwear and leather (-6.5%), textiles (-5.7%), wood (-9.9%), rubber and plastic (-3.8%) and paper and press (-3.7%). However, food and beverages (3.3%), machinery and equipment (2.7%), communication and mining and quarrying (4.5%) exerted the main positive impacts on the industry overall.

In the index accumulated in the first three months of the year, the industrial employment kept the falling movement (-0.8%), with negative rates in eight of the 14 places and in ten of the 18 sectors surveyed. Among the places, São Paulo (-3.1%) marked the main negative impact on the industry overall, followed by the Northeast region (-1.4%), Santa Catarina (-1.4%), Ceará (-3.2%) and Bahia (-2.3%). On the other hand, Paraná (4.0%) and Minas Gerais (1.9%) exerted the major positive influences. Among the sectors, the most relevant negative contributions of the industry overall came from apparel (-6.5%), footwear and leather (-7.0%), fabricated metal products (-5.5%), wood (-10.2%), textiles (-5.1%), rubber and plastic (-4.2%) and paper and press (-3.8%); whereas the sectors of food and beverages (4.4%), machinery and equipment (2.4%), means of transportation (1.8%), mining and quarrying (4.6%) and communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (1.9%) were responsible for the positive impacts.

In the quarterly analysis, the industrial employment, down 0.8% from January to March 2012, posted drops for the second consecutive quarter and kept the downward trend stated in the third quarter of 2010 (5.1%), both comparisons against the same period a year ago. Nine places and nine sectors signaled a rise in the falling pace of contractions between Q4 last year (-0.4%) and Q1 2012 (-0.8%). The highlights were tobacco (from -1.6% to -5.7%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (from 5.4% to 1.9%) transportation means (from 5,1% to 1,8%), fabricated metal products (from -3.1% to -5.5%) and basic metals (from -0.6% to -2.9%), among the segments; and Paraná (from 5.6% to 4.0%), Bahia (from -0.7% to -2.3%), North and Central-West regions (from 2.2% to 0.8%), Rio Grande do Sul (from 2.2% to 0.8%) and Pernambuco (from 3.6% to 2.3%), among the places.

Number of hours paid is 1.2% lower than in February

In March 2012, the number of hours paid to industrial employees, discounted the seasonal influences, contracted 1.2% against the immediately previous month, practically eliminating the 1.3 % expansion achieved last February. As a result, the quarterly moving average index plateaued over the same result registered in February, in March 2012, after two consecutive months of positive results in this kind of indicator – period in which it accumulated a gain of 0.7%. Considering the seasonally adjusted series, in the quarter over immediately previous quarter comparison, the number of hours paid rose by 0.7% in the first quarter of the year, after recording negative rates for three months in a row: -0,4% in the second quarter 2011, -0.2% in the following quarter and -1,4% in the last quarter last year.

In the comparison with the same month a year ago, the number of hours paid marked, in March 2012 (-1.5%), the seventh negative rate in a row in that type of comparison and the most substantial since last November (-1.6%). The accumulated index from January to March 2012 also reported decrease (-1.2%). The annual rate (index accumulated in the last 12 months), recording a change of -0.4% in March 2012, posted the sharpest drop since June 2010 (-0.9%) and kept the downward trend started in February of 2011 (4.5%).

In March 2012, the number of hours paid reduced 1.5% in relation to March 2011, with negative rates in ten of the 14 places surveyed. Among the sectors, the main negative influences came from apparel (-7.6%), fabricated metal products (-6.1%), footwear and leather (-7.0%), textiles (-5.6%), rubber and plastic (-4.2%), wood (-8.9%) and paper and press (-3.5%). The most relevant positive contribution on the industry overall came from food and beverages (2.9%), followed by machinery and equipment (2.3%) and mining and quarrying (4.5%).

Among the places, concerning the monthly index, São Paulo (-3.6%) posted the main negative influence on the country overall, pushed at a great extent by the reduction in the number of hours paid in the sectors of fabricated metal products (-12.2%), communication and electrical-electronic machinery and apparatus (-11.5%), basic metals (-21.6%), textiles (-7.6%), apparel (-6.4%), rubber and plastic (-4.0%), and paper and press (-4.3%). It is also worth mentioning the negative impacts from Santa Catarina (-2.8%) mainly attributable to declines registered in the sectors of apparel (-6.8%),  wood (-17.6%), fabricated metal products (-11.7%), textiles (-5.3%) and communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (-5.3%); from the Northeast region (-1.4%), especially due to drops recorded in apparel (-8.3%), textiles (-9.6%), footwear and leather (-2.4%) and means of transportation (-11.4%); and from Rio Grande do Sul (-1.7%), principally because of the lower number of hours paid in the sectors of footwear and leather (-14.4%), rubber and plastic (-9.3%) and tobacco (-12.9%).  On the other hand, Minas Gerais (2.4%), Paraná (2.0%) and Pernambuco (2.0%) gave the most significant  positive contributions to the total number of hours paid, pushed at a great extent by the growth in the sectors of food and beverages (6.0%), basic metals (9.3%), fabricated metal products (7.3%), non-metallic minerals (7.6%) and mining and quarrying (6.6%), in the first location; in communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (38.0%), food and beverages (7.2%) and means of transportation (7.7%), in the second; and in food and beverages (4.7%), chemical products (14.9%) and  non-metallic minerals (6.8%) in the last.

In the index accumulated in the first quarter 2012, there was a downfall of 1.2% in the number of hours paid, with eleven of the 18 sectors surveyed reporting negative rates. The main negative influences on the overall industry average came from apparel (-6.9%), footwear and leather (-6.9%), fabricated metal products (-5.5%), textiles (-5.2%), wood (-10.0%), rubber and plastic (-3.9%) and paper and press (-3.7%). Conversely, the most relevant positive contribution came from food and beverages (3.3%), followed by machinery and equipment (3.0%) and mining and quarrying (4.5%).  Concerning the regions, ten of the 14 places presented negative rates, with a highlight to the contraction of 3.4% observed in São Paulo, followed by the reductions in Santa Catarina (-2.1%) , Bahia (-2.4%) and in the Northeast region (-0.5%). However, Minas Gerais (2.2%), Paraná (1.8%) and Pernambuco (3.0%) posted the most sizeable gains on the national overall.

In a quarter basis, the number of hours paid in the industry, after falling 1.2% in the first quarter 2012, almost repeated the downfall pace seen in the last quarter last year (-1.3%), when it interrupted seven consecutive quarters of positive rates – all comparisons against the same quarter a year ago. Between the fourth quarter 2011 and the first quarter this year, ten of the 18 sectors and six of the 14 places registered more dynamism. Among the activities, the strongest gains, between the two periods, were recorded by petroleum refinement and alcohol production, (from -2.0% to 2.0%), food and beverages (from 1.4% to 3.3%), non-metallic minerals (from -3.2% to -1.5%), wood (from -11.7% to -10.0%), machinery and equipment (from 1.4% to 3.0%) and footwear and leather (from -8.4% to -6.9%).  The sharpest drops came from communication and electrical-electronic machinery and apparatus (from 3.3% to -0.9%), transportation means (from 4.2% to 1.1%), and other products of the manufacturing industry (from 3.5% to 1.1%). Among the places, Ceará (from -2.1% to -0.6%), Minas Gerais (from 1.5% to 2.2%) and São Paulo (from -4.1% to -3.4%) reported the greatest accelerations between both periods, whereas Bahia (from -0.2% to -2.4%), Pernambuco (from 5.2% to 3.0%) and Espírito Santo (from -1.4% to -3.0%) registered the most relevant decreases between the two periods.

In short, the industrial employment and the number of hours paid, in March 2012, registered again negative rates against the immediately previous month, the former marking the greatest negative rate since October last year, and the latter practically eliminating the 1.3% increase seen in February. This scenario of lower dynamism in the labor market is also influenced by the negative behavior of the quarterly moving average index since October last year, principally reflecting the slower pace of the industrial production started in the second quarter last year. In the comparisons against the same periods of 2011, the result of the total employed persons in the industry and the number of hours paid remained negative, in the monthly index of March 2012 as well as in the accumulated in the first quarter of the year, and kept the dissemination of negative rates among the places and sectors surveyed.

Real payroll decreases 0.7%

In March 2012, the value of the industrial workers’ real payroll, seasonally adjusted, declined 0.7% as compared to the immediately previous month, after recording expansion for two consecutive months, when it accumulated gains of 6.4%.  It is worth highlighting that this month’s result reveals an evident influence of the 7.8% reduction signaled by the mining and quarrying sector in February, once the manufacturing industry posted a rise of 0.6%. The quarterly moving average index advanced 1.8% between the quarters ended in February and March, intensifying the growing pace over the results of January (1.3%) and February (1,5%). Considering the seasonally adjusted series, in the quarter over quarter comparison, the real payroll rose by 4.6% in the first quarter 2012 and counterbalanced the drop of 2.6% observed in the last quarter a year ago.

Contrasting with the same month of the previous year, the real payroll rose by 4.2% in March 2012, the 27th consecutive positive result in this kind of comparison. The index accumulated in the first quarter 2012 marked an increase of 4.6% over the same period a year ago. The annual rate (index accumulated in the last 12 months), growing 3.9% in March 2012, continued the reducing growth pace begun in May 2011 (7.3%).

In the comparison with the same month of the previous year, the value of the real payroll recorded an expansion of 4.2% in March 2012, with positive results in the 14 places surveyed. The major influences on the national overall were seen in Minas Gerais (9.7%) and Paraná (13.4%), mainly reinforced by the rise in the value of the real payroll of the mining and quarrying industry (44.4%), driven at a great extent by profit-sharing at an important company of the sector, and to a lesser extent, by the sectors of non-metallic minerals (27.7%), communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (20.8%), food and beverages (8.9%) and transportation means (6.9%), in the first place; in the second, on behalf of food and beverages (24.1%), transportation means (21.8%) and communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (29.8%). It is worth mentioning as well the advances seen in the North and Central-West regions (5.1%), Northeast region (5.1%), Santa Catarina (6.6%) and Rio Grande do Sul (5.1%). In those places, the activities that mostly contributed in a positive way to the rise in the real payroll were: food and beverages (19.3%), mining and quarrying industries (24.7%) and communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (16.4%), in the North and Central-West region; food and beverages (9.2%) and machinery and equipment (9.8%), in the industry of Santa Catarina; and food and beverages (29.4%), machinery and equipment (9.8%) and transportation means (1.4%), in the industrial sector in Rio Grande do Sul.

Among the sectors, concerning the monthly index, the value of the real payroll in relation to the country’s overall grew in 11 of the 18 sectors surveyed, with a highlight to food and beverages (13.8%), mining and quarrying industries (15.4%), machinery and equipment (7.0%), petroleum refinement and alcohol production (14.2%) and non-metallic minerals (7.6%).  Conversely, chemical products (-2.3%), footwear and leather (-4.8%), fabricated metal products (-2.1%) and basic metals (-1.8%) exerted the greatest negative impact on the industry overall.

In the indicator accumulated in the three first months of 2012, the value of the real payroll rose by 4.6%, with positive rates in all places surveyed, with a highlight to Minas Gerais (8.9%) and Paraná (13.7%), attributable at a great extent to the sectors of mining and quarrying (26.4%), non-metallic minerals (20.8%) and of transportation means (5.9%) , in the first place, and of transportation means (25.8%), food and beverages (21.2%) and communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (36.2%), in the second.  It is worth mentioning as well the positive contributions seen in the Northeast region (7.2%), North and Central-West regions (8.7%) São Paulo (1.0%) and Rio de Janeiro (5.3%). In these places, the activities that most influenced in a positive way were, respectively, food and beverages (11.0%), chemical products (13.0%); food and beverages (14.1%) mining and quarrying industries (23.9%) and communication and electric-electronic machinery and apparatus (18.0%); machinery and equipment (8.8%) and food and beverages (7.4%); and mining and quarrying industries (14.0%), transportation means (6.6%) and food and beverages (12.6%).

Among the sectors, considering the index accumulated in the year, the value of the real payroll advanced in 11 of the 18 activities surveyed, leveraged particularly by the gains coming from food and beverages (10.8%), mining and quarrying industries (17.3%) transportation means  (5.4%), machinery and equipment (6.6%), non-metallic minerals (6.1%) and petroleum refinement and alcohol production (10.3%). Conversely, footwear and leather (-4.8%), chemical products (-1.2%) and wood (-6.2%) exerted the greatest negative impact on the industry overall.

In the quarterly analysis, the value of the payroll, growing 4.6% from January to March 2012, kept the sequence of positive results begun in the first quarter 2010 (3.1%) and interrupted the reduction in the growing pace started in Q3 2010 (9.4%), all comparisons over the same period in the previous year. Between the fourth quarter 2011 (2.5%) and the first quarter 2012, the dynamism gain in the value of the real payroll was observed in 13 of the 18 sectors surveyed, with a highlight to mining and quarrying industries (from 8.4% to 17.3%), food and beverages (from 6.2% to 10.8%) and paper and press (from -6.0% to -1.0%), among the sectors and Espírito Santo (from -1.4% to 7.4%), North and Central-West regions (from 3.0% to 8.7%) and Bahia (from 1.5% to 7.1%), among the places.