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Numbers Raised by the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) Continuous and Released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) Show that the Unemployment Rate in Brazil Increased in the Quarter Ended in February. Read the Article and Check the Numbers.
A survey released by IBGE showed that the unemployment rate in Brazil was 7.8% in the quarter ended in February.
This percentage is 0.3% higher than that recorded in the immediately previous quarter, when unemployment was 7.5%. Now, compared to the same quarter in 2023, it is noticeable that this rate was lower, since, in the same period of the previous year, the unemployment rate was at 8.6%.
More About the Unemployment Survey
According to IBGE, this survey conducted by PNAD shows results that are within the projections made by the financial market for the quarter.
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In this sense, it is noted that, with the results, the absolute number of unemployed people in Brazil recorded an increase of 4.1% compared to the previous quarter, reaching a total of 8.5 million people. However, in the annual comparison, the decline recorded is 7.5%.
Stability Among Employees
When analyzing the issue of employees, it is noted that, between December and February, there was stability regarding the occupied population: there are 100.2 million people. If only this year is analyzed, there is an increase of 2.2%: there are 2.1 million people who secured jobs by the end of February.
Reason for the Increase in Unemployment
In the report, Adriana Beringuy, coordinator of Labor and Income at IBGE, explains that, with the number of occupations stable, the increase in the unemployment rate happens mainly due to the rise in job searches.
“At the beginning of the year, there is a process of dismissals of temporary workers and a slowdown in economic activity. This makes it difficult to reabsorb workers into the labor market. But comparing to the scenario of a year ago, the picture is still one of expansion,” she says.
Record Number of Registered Workers
The survey also shows that there was a record when it comes to workers with signed work cards. In total, there were 37.99 million. This formation, reported IBGE, was the pillar for preventing a more significant increase in unemployment in the country.
On the other hand, the number of employed people without a work card did not have a significant variation in the quarter and remained around 13.3 million. See the numbers:
- Unemployment Rate: 7.8%;
- Unemployed: 8.5 million people;
- Employed: 100.25 million;
- People Outside the Labor Force: 66.8 million;
- With Signed Work Cards: 37.99 million;
- Without Signed Work Cards: 13.3 million;
- Self-Employed Workers: 25.4 million;
- Domestic Workers: 5.9 million;
- Informal Workers: 38.8 million;
- Informality Rate: 38.7%.
Increasing Income
Finally, the survey showed that habitual real income increased when compared to the previous quarter. This growth was 1.1%, reaching R$ 3,110. When compared to the current year, this increase was 4.3%.
According to Adriana Beringuy, this growth in income is related to a process of expansion, and is due not only to the growth of the occupied population itself, but also to growth via formal work. “Even where income is falling, the area in question involves temporary workers and lower incomes,” she says.
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