An Economic Concern In A South American Country Assignment

An Economic Concern In A South American Country - Assignment Example Over the past eight years, it experienced its single drop in GDP in the year 2009 when GDP fell by 0.6 percent. This was caused by the global recession that year. But it was one of the fastest to recover. In 2010, GDP grew by 7.5 percent and for 2011; it is expected to grow 5.6 percent. Moreover, for the next five years, barring any severe external shocks like another global recession, Brazil’s economy is expected to grow by 5.5 – 6 percent (EconomyWatch Content, 2010). Much of this growth comes from the services sector. It accounts for the biggest slice of total GDP with 67.5 percent. About 66 percent of the country’s labor force is employed in this sector (EconomyWatch Content, 2010). Major industries comprising this sector include telecommunications, energy, banking, commerce and computing services. In the field of energy, Brazil is one of the largest producers of hydroelectric power. It is also the ninth largest oil producer in the world. In the field of bank ing, large foreign banks have made huge investments in the country (EconomyWatch Content, 2010). The manufacturing industry is another large contributor to GDP with 26.4 percent of the total GDP pie and employs 14 percent of total labor force. Industries found in the country are automobile and parts, machinery and equipment, petrochemicals, computers, aircraft, textiles, steel, cement and consumer durables (EconomyWatch Content, 2010). Making up ten percent of total GDP is the export sector valued at USD 201.9 billion in 2010 (Gorn, n.d.). The bulk, or 60 percent, of its exports are manufactured and semi-manufactured goods. Commodities like oil, soy, coffee, iron ore and steel has also helped increase total exports. Lastly, Brazil is touted as the world’s largest producer of coffee, sugarcane, tropical fruits and orange juice, and has the largest cattle herd in the world (EconomyWatch Content, 2010). Other agricultural products are soybeans, tobacco, cocoa, corn, cotton and f orest products. Agriculture contributes 6.1 percent of GDP and employs 20 percent of the labor force (EconomyWatch Content, 2010). 4) What are 2–3 relationships between the economic concern you selected and that specific country's economy? Brazil’s growing economy has created a total of 14 million jobs since 2003 (EconomyWatch Content, 2010). Increases in GDP means that goods and services produced by businesses were being bought either by the local market or by the export market. And businesses have responded by increasing supply through the formation of new businesses or expansion of existing businesses. This therefore leads to higher employment rates. Thus, the unemployment rate has significantly gone down over the years. While unemployment increased from 7.9 percent in 2008 to 8.1 percent in 2009, this was mainly due to the slowdown in the global economy. However, in 2010 unemployment again dropped to 6.7 percent (EconomyWatch Content, 2010). The main benefit of hig her employment is higher incomes for the people in general. With higher incomes comes better quality of life. Comparing the per capita figures for 2009 and 2010, per capita income rose by 7.5 percent for the period (EconomyWatch Content, 2010). This has translated to higher demand for goods and services. With more money in people’s hands, generally, people’s tendency is to spend, which again redounds to the benefit of