By Richard Mann, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Data released last week by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) show that 5.2 million unemployed have been seeking employment for over a year; this represents 38.9 percent of the unemployed in the country.
Out of the overall number of people on the unemployment line, 3.3 million (24.8 percent) have been out of work for two years or more, a 9.8 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2018.
Also according to IBGE, 6 million people (45.4 percent of the total) have been looking for jobs for over a month and less than a year and 2.1 million have been in the unemployment line for less than a month.
The country’s average unemployment rate in the first quarter increased to 12.7 percent, as previously reported by the agency, affecting 13.4 million Brazilians.
It is the highest unemployment rate since the quarter that ended in March 2018.
The highest unemployment rates were registered in Amapá (20.2 percent), Bahia (18.3 percent), and Acre (18.0 percent); the lowest were in Santa Catarina (7.2 percent), Rio Grande do Sul (8.0 percent), and Paraná and Rondônia (both at 8,9 percent). In São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, rates were 13.5 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively.
The most significant number of unemployed is among 25 to 59-year-olds (57.2 percent). Next, youths from 18 to 24 years old (31.8 percent), minors (8.3 percent), and the elderly (2.6 percent).
Women head as the majority (52,6 percent) of the unemployed as well as the population out of the labor force (64,6 percent). Among men, the unemployment rate was 10.9 percent in the first quarter, while for women it was 14.9 percent.