MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sharp fall in unemployment reported in Brazil

The employment level stood at a record high of 58.8%

A report released Tuesday by Brazil's Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) showed a significant drop in the unemployment rate in the quarter ending in July, which stood at 5.6%, the lowest since records began in 2012. In the previous rolling quarter, the rate was 5.8%.

At the end of July, the country had 6.118 million unemployed people – the lowest since the last quarter of 2013 (6.1 million). The number of employed people reached a record 102.4 million.

The quarter was also marked by a record number of workers with formal employment contracts – 39.1 million.

The figures kept the employment level – i.e., the percentage of employed people in the working-age population – at a record high of 58.8%.

According to research analyst William Kratochwill, the quarter's results support the positive momentum in the labor market. “The market is buoyant and resilient, with characteristics of an expanding market. The number of people outside the labor force has been declining,” he said.

The survey assessed labor market behavior for people aged 14 and over and takes into account all forms of employment, whether formal or informal, temporary or self-employed. Only those actively looking for a job are considered unemployed. A total of 211 thousand households are visited across all states plus the Federal District.

The study also maps people who are outside the labor force – 65.6 million, stable compared to the previous rolling quarter. The discouraged population – i.e. those who did not seek employment because they believed they would not find a job – fell 11% in the quarter and reached 2.7 million people.

In Kratochwill’s view, the indicators show that people who left the unemployed population “are not withdrawing from the workforce or becoming discouraged; they are actually entering the labor market.” (Source: Agencia Brasil)