The industrial employment rate in Brazil dropped 5.1 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2009, according to official statistics. The industrial employment fell 0.01 percent in June, a decrease for nine consecutive months, but also the lowest monthly drop in 2009, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics said on Friday. During the period between July 2008 and June 2009, the country's industrial employment declined by 1.9 percent year-on-year. The number of hours paid to the industrial workers fell 5.8 percent in the first half of 2009, compared to the same period a year earlier. Salaries of the industrial workers dropped 1 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2009. In June, the figure registered a 1.7-percent drop from May and a 2-percent drop from June 2008. 