Rio de Janeiro’s Bars and Restaurants Have Lost Close to 30,000 Jobs in 2020

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Data released by the Rio de Janeiro Bar and Restaurant Union (SINDRIO), show that the state of Rio has now lost 29,269 jobs between March and September this year. Rio de Janeiro is among the most impacted states by the crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, second only to São Paulo, in terms of number of lost jobs, 84,972.

The economic activity most affected by the pandemic on the formal labor market in Rio de Janeiro is still bars and restaurants.

Hotels and clothing and accessories retail stores come next both in the state and municipality of Rio. It is worth noting that, once again, considering all economic sectors, both the state and the capital of Rio de Janeiro showed a positive balance of formal hiring, as observed in August.

National Scenario

In September, a net 2,797 formal jobs were opened in the Bar and Restaurant sector in Brazil. This is the first positive result for the sector since the start of the novel Coronavirus pandemic in March – the worst result was observed in April (-93,846). In the year, the sector has accumulated the loss of 236,350 jobs.

ICMS

In September, the ICMS (tax on the circulation of goods and services) revenue from all business activities in Rio state showed a 2,2 percent growth when compared to the same month last year. With respect to food and beverage business, the ICMS tax collection has decreased 34.2 percent over the same period. Thus, in September 2020, the estimated revenue of the sector in the state of Rio was R$616.5 million, down R$320.9 million compared to September 2019. In the first nine months of the year, revenues of companies in the sector dropped 40.9 percent (- R$ 3.6 billion) compared to the same period in 2019.

Inflation

In the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, the IPCA-RJ (Extended National Consumer Price Index) fluctuated 0.59 percent in October. The index’s main positive contribution in the month came again from the Food and Beverage group (+1.55 percent), mainly due to the increase in prices for Food at Home (+1.91 percent). In this subgroup, the greatest price increase in the month occurred in grains, legumes and oilseeds (+10.95 percent), mainly rice (+15.91 percent). The Food and Beverages group (+6,94 percent) presents the greatest price increase in the year in the region. In 2020, the IPCA-RJ accumulates +1.73 percent.