MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil: Unemployment down in 3Q

Only in December 2013 was unemployment lower since these measurements started in 2012

According to a report from Brazil’s Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) released Thursday, unemployment in South America's largest country fell to 6.4 % in the third quarter of 2024 (from July to September), Agencia Brasil reported. These figures are 0.5 percentage points lower than between April and June, when it stood at 6.9%. Compared to July–September 2023, the drop is 1.3 percentage points. In that quarter, the rate was 7.7%.

The latest unemployment rate is the second lowest in this time series, which began in 2012, surpassing only the rate for the quarter ending in December 2013 (6.3%).

The unemployed population—people who were not working and were looking for a job—fell to 7 million in the quarter ending in September. This is the lowest figure since the quarter ending in January 2015.

According to IBGE Coordinator for Household Surveys Adriana Beringuy, the downward trend in joblessness was the result of a continuous expansion in the number of workers being demanded by various economic activities.

The number of workers in Brazil set a new record in the period covered, rising to 103 million. The growth in the employed population rose by 1.2% in the quarter—1.2 million more workers. Year on year, it rose 3.2%, which represents 3.2 million more employed people.

The survey also showed that the rise in employment in the quarter was driven by the performance of industry (3.2%) and commerce (1.5%). Quarter on quarter, these two groups absorbed 709,000 workers, 416,000 from industry, and 291,000 from commerce. The number of people employed in commerce reached a record 19.6 million.

“Industry in particular recorded an increase in registered jobs. In commerce, on the other hand, even though formal employment also increased, the predominant growth was in informal employment,” said Beringuy.

“Formal employment guarantees workers the labor rights stipulated by law as well as various benefits, such as meal tickets, which employees can use to buy food at accredited chains,” Agencia Brasil also recalled.