After a drop in January, construction industry boosts the economy and should create up to 6 jobs in Niterói by the end of the year

After a weak start to the year, the labor market in Niterói showed signs of recovery in February, driven mainly by the construction industry. The sector saw an increase in hiring and was mainly responsible for the increase in the number of formal jobs in the city, helping to boost the local economy.

After starting 2025 with more layoffs than admissions, Niterói once again registered a positive balance in job generation empregos in February. The data comes from the General Registry of Employed and Unemployed Persons (Caged) and shows that the recovery was driven mainly by the construction sector.

In January, the city closed the month with 5.541 admissions and 6.692 dismissals, which resulted in a negative balance of 1.151 vacancies.

Most of the layoffs came from the trade and services sectors. In February, the scenario changed: there were 7.237 hires against 6.865 layoffs, a positive balance of 372 formal jobs.

— ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW —

Featured construction

The greatest growth was observed in the construction industry, which hired 1.020 people and laid off 458, resulting in 562 vacancies. This represented the best performance among all sectors.

The services sector, traditionally the strongest in Niterói, remained practically stable. There were 4.496 admissions and 4.569 layoffs, generating a negative balance of 73 jobs.

Even with this small decline, February's figures were enough to balance the beginning of the year. Overall, the first two months had a positive performance, according to an analysis by economist Rodolpho Tobler, from Fundação Getulio Vargas – Brazilian Institute of Economics (FGV-Ibre).

Market analysis

According to Tobler, the formal job market in Niterói is still showing growth, even with signs of slowdown when compared to the accelerated pace of the previous year.

"We are seeing that formal jobs continue to grow when we look at the same period last year. We see that the city still has positive rates. What we are beginning to see is that, after having recorded a very favorable year in 2024, the job market remains buoyant, but is now starting to lose some of its intensity.“, assesses the economist.

He explains that the trend is for a moderate slowdown throughout 2025. This is because the growth rate was very high in 2024, which makes it difficult to maintain the same performance. Factors such as inflation and high interest rates also contribute to a more challenging scenario this year.

"Now it is starting to slow down a bit. A certain slowdown is natural, because 2024 was a very positive year, with a very strong pace. It is difficult to imagine that this year will still have a pace at that level, especially since the trend for the economy in 2025 is to grow a little less.“, adds Tobler.

Growth outlook

Even with this more cautious macroeconomic scenario, the construction industry in Niterói remains optimistic. The forecast is for an increase in hiring in the coming months, driven by new projects.

Bruno Serpa Pinto, vice-president of the Association of Real Estate Market Companies (Ademi-Niterói) and CEO of Spin, states that the sector's positive balance reflects projects launched in the last quarter of 2024. According to him, the pace of hiring increases as the works progress.

"Caged accuses a delayed effect of the movement of the economy in the construction industry, because the largest volume of contracts is not at the launch of the project, but at the beginning of the works", Explain.

According to Serpa Pinto, 2025 new real estate developments are expected to open in the city in the second quarter of 12 alone. Each of these is expected to generate around 550 direct and indirect jobs. He estimates that the second half of the year will see the creation of up to six thousand construction jobs.

"We have a forecast for growth this year that is higher than the peak of the real estate market in 2012, with the prospect of more than 30 launches in the city, and this was confirmed in the first quarter.“, highlights the executive.

The most recent of these developments is Caminhos de Guanabara, with a thousand residential units on the seafront of the Center. The project was launched this Saturday (12), at an event attended by Mayor Rodrigo Neves.

The movement in the construction sector should keep employment numbers high throughout 2025. Even in the face of a more restrained national scenario, Niterói is betting on new ventures to sustain the creation of jobs and keep the local economy on a positive pace.

With information from O Globo.

Be the first to react!

Registration