Brazil employment sees record high in quarter ending in July

In the quarter ending in July this year, Brazil’s labor market saw a record number of employed people: 93.6 million—the highest for the time series initiated in 2012, up 1.3 percent on the quarter ending in April this year, and 2.4 percent on the quarter ending in July 2018.

The figures come from a survey released today (Aug 30) by government statistics institute IBGE. The increase was pulled by workers with no formal registration and the self-employed.

Informal workers added up to 11.7 million in July, also a record. The surge reached 3.9 percent (441 thousand people) from April and 5.6 percent (619 thousand people) from July 2018.

Self-employed workers totaled 24.2 million. The number also sets a record and increased in both comparisons: 1.4 percent (343 thousand people) against April, and 5.2 percent (1.2 million people) against July 2018.

Subutilization

The country’s subutilized population—i.e., the unemployed, people who work less than they could, people who did not look for a job or did look for a job but was not available for the an offered opening—was reported at 28.1 million in July, stable if compared to the previous quarter and up 2.6 percent from July last year.

The workforce subutilization rate was 24.6 percent—down 24.9 percent on April and 24.4 percent on July 2018.

Unemployment

Unemployment rate slipped to 11.8 percent in July this year, below the 12.5 percent seen in the quarter ending in April and the 12.3 percent reported in July last year.

People outside of Brazil’s workforce—those who are neither working nor looking for a job—amounted to 64.8 million in July, steady in the other comparisons.

The total number of discouraged people—individuals who have given up looking for employment—was 4.8 million, steady in both comparisons. The percentage of discouraged people was 4.4 percent, also stable.