Brazil´s Economy Minister Says Covid-19 Pandemic “Yielding”, Economy Rebounding

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes stated on Wednesday, November 4th, that the Covid-19 pandemic is “yielding, while the economy is rebounding”. In an event at the Planalto Palace, he stressed the labor market data and the creation of formal jobs in recent months.

“We have created 100,000 jobs in July, 300,000 jobs in September. So we lost fewer jobs in the year than in 2015 and 2016, when there was no such tragedy. In September 2015, we had lost 650,000 jobs. At this point, we have lost 550,000,” he said.

However, the Minister said that the records will show that unemployment rose from 13 to 15 percent, because no one considered the “invisible”. “No one would include the 40 million that were concealed. So it was very easy to report unemployment at 13 percent, now it will be 14 percent, it will be 15 percent. But the question is: how many millions of Brazilians were hiding and were now assisted?”

The Minister stated that outside the confines of the CLT (Consolidated Labor Law) protection, 40 million “invisible” Brazilians were found who struggle for bread every day and have no security at all. Although the government may trigger a social protection program in case of a second Covid-19 wave, the fact is that the economy is bouncing back. “That is a fact. We will face future speculations with the same decision-making capacity that President Jair Bolsonaro implemented in the team through his leadership,” he said.

Source: Estadão Conteúdo (State Content)