Brazil unemployment rate 11.2% in May

Brazil's unemployment rate measured by the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Continuous PNAD) was 11.2% in the quarter ended in May this year. This is up from the 10.2% reported in the quarter ended in February and the 8.1% reported in the quarter ended in May 2015, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The latest rate is the highest unemployment rate in the time series that began in March 2012.

The unemployed population was 11.4 million people, an increase of 10.3% (1.1 million people) from the quarter ended in February, and 40.3% (3.3 million people) up from the quarter ended in May 2015.

The employed population (90.8 million people) remained stable from February 2016, but was down 1.4% (1.2 million people) compared to May 2015.

Translated by Mayra Borges