Brazil's jobless rate rose in August to its highest in six months despite stronger job creation, adding to signs that the economic recession is eroding a robust labor market. The non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate stood at 5.0 percent in August, up from 4.9% in July, statistics agency IBGE announced.
Dilma Rousseff has stopped her erosion in opinion polls as she seeks a second term as Brazil’s president, even reversing the trend with only days left before the election, greatly thanks to her predecessor and mentor Lula da Silva.
A pioneer initiative will more than triple the ocean area under environmental protection in Brazil, from 5.5 million hectares to over 17.5 million, an area larger than Greece.
The Brazilian production of grains in 2013/2014 has reached 195.46 million tons, according to the country’s National Supply Company, Conab. The number is a 3.6% (6.8 million tons) increase compared to the previous season.
Brazil's biggest oil field, Libra, will cost 80 billion dollars to develop, according to a senior executive with France's Total, one of five consortium members participating in the project. Total's vice president of exploration and production for the Americas, Ladislas Paszkiewicz, made the estimate at the Rio Oil & Gas conference, which began Monday and runs through Thursday.
Finance Minister Guido Mantega presented on Monday a package of tax measures aimed at stimulating Brazil's economy less than a month ahead of the presidential election.
Brazil will hold a 13th round of oil rights auctions in the first half of next year in a sale that will include new areas in the country's promising Eastern Margin offshore region, a senior mines and energy ministry official said this week.
Construction has begun on a giant observation tower in the heart of the Amazon basin to monitor climate change. The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory is expected to rise 325m from the ground.
Despite all the negative news on government restrictions imposed on the Argentine economy and the shortage of hard currency, the country's Merval Index has skyrocketed almost 100% this year, the highest of any stock market in the world. It includes many of the largest companies in the country such as Telecom Argentina and Energy Petrobras, along with banks and a steel maker.
Moody's Investors Service lowered its outlook on Brazil's government bond rating to 'negative' from 'stable', saying the country's sustained low economic growth and worsening debt metrics reflected a risk of reduced creditworthiness.