Unemployment rises in Rio as Olympic construction ends

World Today

With work for the Rio 2016 Olympics almost complete, economists and labor officials expect the loss of thousands more jobs in Rio alone, which will increase the risk of more political and economic turmoil.

CCTV America’s Lucrecia Franco report.
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Waldemiro Marcelino is a 65 years-old and father of four.

“I hope our work doesn’t stop. It can’t. We can’t become unemployed. We have our families to take care of and sustain. We are worried, but I have faith in God it will not stop,” Marcelino said.

Reasoning to the preparations for Rio’s mega-sporting events, construction workers have been in high demand for the past seven years.

Nilson Duarte, president of the Union of Heavy Construction Workers, said the job cuts began more than two years ago and current prospects are grim.

In April, unemployment rose to 11.2 percent from 9.5 percent in January. There are now nearly 11.5 million Brazilians out of work.

Michel Temer, the Brazil’s interim president and Dilma Rousseff, a suspended president, promised to restore economic growth, in part, with cuts to public spending.

For workers like Marcelino, economists said that makes the near-term outlook appear pretty grim.

“There are no plans for public investments in construction, so Rio is the only thing left, because of the Olympic project,” Adhemar Mineiro, an economist said.