Rio celebrates its 450th anniversary with job growth.

Brazil Agency - The city of Rio de Janeiro celebrates its 450th anniversary this Sunday (1st), commemorating the expansion of employment in the trade and services sector. Data released this week by the Federation of Commerce of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Fecomércio-RJ) reveals that employment in the trade of goods, services and tourism represented 43,4% of the total jobs generated in the municipality in 2013, compared to 41,9% in 2008.

The Economics Manager of Fecomércio-RJ, Christian Travassos, highlighted that, in the recent scenario, commerce and services have surpassed the oil industry and civil construction as the mainstays of the Rio de Janeiro and state economy. “The sector's participation in job creation has increased in recent years, indicating interesting growth in the western zone compared to the average. We can say that commerce has grown in terms of formal employment, driven by the western zone and also the northern zone,” he stated.

According to the economist, this growth is related to the maturing of the consumer market and also to the differentiated role of the service sector. People are demanding more services, which leads establishments to hire more labor. This is the case with supermarkets and restaurants, for example. "There is also a greater concern with appearance, which expands the number of hair salons in the city as a whole, again with greater prominence in the west and north zones," he added.

Travassos admitted that large events help increase job opportunities in the city. “But that’s not all,” he said. This movement occurs because the people of Rio themselves demand more services in general, whether governmental – related to health and education – or linked to the elderly or tourism services. He assessed that, since the Rio economy is heavily based on the service sector, this makes it more stable than the national average. “It’s a more homogeneous growth.” The fact that the city is service-oriented follows a global trend, he added.

The growth of the tourism sector is driving employment in the areas of restaurants, clothing, supermarkets, and hotels, which have strengthened both in terms of the number of jobs and establishments. While in the southern zone of the capital, establishments linked to tourism take center stage in job creation, in the western zone, hotels are giving way to supermarkets; in the northern zone, completely different segments are leading in job creation, with a predominance of cleaning and security services, and in the center, restaurants lead in job creation, "but there are also telemarketing and engineering services in the absorption of jobs with formal contracts."

The numbers show that the northern zone of Rio is the absolute leader in the number of employees in the trade, services and tourism sector, with 375.090 jobs, or the equivalent of 14,3% of the total jobs in Rio de Janeiro, and in the number of establishments (52.956), corresponding to 19,5% of the city's total. "[This occurs] also because it hosts companies that provide services in other parts of the municipality," Travassos pointed out.

The economist pointed out, however, that the most robust growth is observed in the western zone, which "is the frontier of housing growth" in the municipality. The southern zone and the center experienced a decline in job absorption. From 2008 to 2013, employment grew in the western zone, increasing from 9,7% of the total to 10,8%. In the northern zone, there was also expansion, although smaller (from 13,8% to 14,3%), while the southern and central zones saw a reduction in jobs (from 6,3% to 6% and from 11,2% to 10,5%, respectively).