Latest Ceará employment figures show a stable job market, creating a steady flow of jobs. Stand-out sectors in this state in Northeast Brazil include trade and hospitality, and reflect the area’s continued economic growth against a very different background nationally.
Employment in Ceará in Q3 this year went up from 3.43 million jobs to 3.44 million in six months, prompting state authorities to confirm “a point of stability in the Ceará market”. The state’s workforce has grown from 3.76 million to 3.81 million since January, showing there’s demand for jobs in Ceará. Trade continues to be the principal employment sector in the state, representing 21 per cent of all jobs.
State versus Nation Contrasts
Employment figures for Q3 released by the state Institute for Economic Research and Strategy (IPECE in Brazilian) make an interesting comparison between Brazil as a whole and Ceará within it. They also reveal differences in the ups and downs of job availability in the different sectors.
Since Q1 2012 (when the first Ceará employment research began), the state’s population has increased by almost 3 per cent. The figure is higher (4 per cent) for the segment of the population aged over 14.
By sectors, those that have increased their workforce most since Q1 2012 are services generally, construction plus finance and real estate. Ceará has experienced a rise of nearly 19 per cent in employment in services, 16 per cent in construction and over 13 per cent in finance and real estate. The construction sector in Ceará where the property market has taken off over the last five years – both for residential and commercial – has employed over 300,000 people every quarter since Q2 2014.
These figures are considerably ahead of the national average – in Brazil as a whole, employment in services rose by 12 per cent. Jobs in construction went up by just 3 per cent and employment in finance and real estate in Brazil increased by 11 per cent. Nationally, however, jobs in commerce and automobile repairs rose by over 7 per cent when in Ceará the increase was just 3 per cent.
Less Employment in Agriculture
Two sectors in Ceará have experienced a drop in employment since the beginning of 2012. The number of jobs in agriculture has fallen by almost 35 per cent in the state (compared to an 8 per cent decrease nationally). IPECE officials attribute this dramatic fall to the long-term drought that has hit inland Ceará. Jobs also went down in the manufacturing sector with 4 per cent fewer.
Q3 brought disappointing news to Brazil employment as a whole. The country saw the number of jobless rise from 6.8 per cent in Q3 2014 to 8.9 per cent a year later. In the Northeast region, it rose by 2.2 per cent to reach 10.8 per cent. Wages have remained stable, however, over the year and consumer confidence – another important economic index – rose by 2.1 per cent, indicating a degree of optimism in the economy.
Sources: IPECE, IBGE, ABECIP
