|
 Brazil's industry posted a 0.8% increase in revenues in January 2008 compared with December 2007, in the series free from seasonal influences. It was the sixth consecutive month in which the indicator grew.
In comparison with January 2007, the growth totaled 10.5%, according to the Industrial Indicators survey, disclosed by the National Confederation of Industries (CNI).
The growth in revenues was accompanied by an expansion of employment, wages and hours worked in production. "The pace of expansion in activity is intense," says the survey, conducted on a monthly basis with average- and large-sized industries in 12 different states.
Another good piece of news is the fact that the level of use of the installed capacity has not been pushed up by the constant increase in production. In the series free from seasonal adjustments, the use of installed capacity stood at 83.1% in January, the same rate as in December.
"This is a sign that the production capacity of the plants has been growing, which points to a maturing of investment," claims the survey.
According to the survey, January was the 26th consecutive month of rising industrial employment. The indicator recorded an expansion of 0.8% in January compared with December 2007, in the seasonally adjusted series.
Thirteen out of the nineteen sectors surveyed opened new job positions in the first month of the year. The industries that hired the most were those of food and beverages, machinery and equipment, and motor vehicles.
As employment grew, workers' wages have risen as well. In January, wages grew 7.5% compared with the same month last year. But that does not mean that there has been a widespread increase in the average income of workers.
According to the survey, 70% of the increase recorded in wages is a result of the greater number of employees, and only 30% represent actual gain for workers.
Among the sectors surveyed, 14 recorded a rise in wages, the highlights being the food and beverage industry, machinery and equipment, electronic and communication material, and motor vehicles.
Hours worked in production grew 0.7% in January compared with December 2007 in the seasonally adjusted series. A large share of that performance was driven by the restocking of inventories. "On average, companies entered 2008 with inventories below a desirable level," informs the survey by the CNI.
The survey shows that, in a comparison between January 2008 and January 2007, hours worked in production grew 7%, the highest rate in the last three years.
200 Years of Industry
The CNI will promote, from March 25 to May 25, the Exhibit 200 Years of Industry in Brazil. The show, which will occupy an area of 1,250 square meters (13,455 square feet) at the Museum of the Automobile, in the Brazilian capital Brasília, is comprised of 252 items representing the history of the industry.
Items include machines, decorative objects, garments, automobiles, artwork, films, photographs and others, lent by private collectors and museums, Brazilian and foreign.
The items reveal the changes that occurred in the industry over the course of two centuries and the transformation in the habits of the population, since the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil in 1808.
"Industry is the result of culture, therefore one cannot separate industrial development from cultural evolution," says the curator for the exhibit, Julio Heilbron.
In order to house the exhibit, the Museum of the Automobile is undergoing renovation since January 15th. It received new painting and flooring, and will have nearly all of external area renewed for the installation of tents, which will provide backup to the exhibit. The show will be free of charge and will be open to the public on March 26th.
CNI/ABr
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Brazil received a huge boost in its international image with its selection as the host of the 2016 Olympics, but it was really just the cherry on top of the overall recognition of the country's ascension to the ranks of one of the world's most important countries. Now, as it finally takes its place on the world scene, there has been a great deal of concern about what kind of image Brazil hopes to project, now that the world is really paying attention. 
The only good thing to say about the visit to Brazil of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday November 23, is that it was mercifully short and lasted less than 24 hours. Ahmadinejad had his picture taken being hugged by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who gave him a warm welcome and said Iran had every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose.