RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The unemployment rate was 14.6% in the quarter ended in May (March, April, and May), virtually unchanged from the quarter ended in February (14.4%). In practice, 14.8 million Brazilians are looking for a job in the country.
The data come from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Pnad), released Friday (30) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The rate recorded in the quarter ending in May is the second-highest in the historical series started by IBGE in 2012. The record (14.7%) was recorded in the two immediately preceding mobile quarters, which ended in March and April.
The labor force population, which includes occupied and unoccupied people, grew by 1.2 million, increasing by 0.9% from the previous quarter.
Research analyst Adriana Beringuy explains that this expansion of employment reflects the increase of 3% of the self-employed, the only category that increased in this period.
“These workers are absorbed by activities in information, communication, and finance, real estate, professional and administrative services, which grew by 3.9%, the only increase among activities in the quarter to May,” says the analyst.