Brazil’s Unemployment Rate Remains Stable in October

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The unemployment rate in Brazil for October was 7.9 percent, remaining stable in relation to September (7.6 percent) according to the IBGE’s (Brazilian Statistics Bureau) Monthly Employment Survey. The rate, however increased by 3.2 percentage points in comparison to October 2014, and was the highest rate for the month of October since 2007.

The number of people in Brazil with jobs totaled 22.5 million retreated in comparison to September 2015 (down by 1.0 percent) and in relation to October of 2014 (down by 3.5 percent).

The number of workers with formal jobs was stable in comparison to September, but fell by four percent in comparison to the same month last year.

According to the survey the slight growth in unemployment was seen especially in workers age 18 to 24.

The sector most affected by unemployment during October 2015 was construction with a retraction of 1.8 percent, while industry remains as the sector which laid off the greatest volume of workers, with a retraction of 10.3 percent for the last twelve months.

All sectors registered a decline in employment in the month of October, except domestic workers, whose employment rate increased by 0.1 percent. For the twelve-month comparison all sectors lost job positions.

The Monthly Employment Survey is conducted in Brazil’s six largest metropolitan areas: Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Porto Alegre.