Unemployment in Brazil reaches 8.6% in quarter ending in February

The unemployment rate in Brazil stood at 8.6 percent in the quarter ended in February this year. The proportion is up 0.5 percentage points from the quarter ended in November 2022, when the rate was 8.1 percent. However, a 2.6 percentage-point reduction was recorded against the quarter ended in February 2022 (11.2%).

The nation’s unemployed added up to 9.2 million Brazilians in February this year, up 5.5 percent from November (483 thousand more people) but 23.2 percent below February 2022 (2.8 million fewer).

The number of people with a job (98.1 million) slipped 1.6 percent (down 1.6 million) against November, but rose three percent (up 2.9 million) against February last year. The employment rate—the percentage of employed people in the working-age population—stood at 56.4 percent, lower than in November (57.4%) but higher than the 55.2 percent registered in February 2022.

The informality rate stood at 38.9 percent of the employed, the same rate as in November, but below the 40.2 percent seen in February last year.