Economy

Unemployment drops to 7.9% in quarter ending in July

The result is the lowest for the period since 2014

Bruno de Freitas Moura

Published on 31/08/2023 - 13:20

Rio de Janeiro

Trabalhador em estação de regulação de gás natural em Cubatão (SP)
03/05/2006
REUTERS/Caetano Barreira — © REUTERS/Caetano Barreira/Proibida reprodução

Brazil’s unemployment rate for the quarter ending in July 2023 stood at 7.9 percent—the lowest result for the period since 2014, when it was 6.7 percent. The figures were released Thursday (Aug. 31) by statistics bureau IBGE.

The proportion shows a reduction of 0.6 percentage points (p.p.) compared to the quarter ending in April (8.5%) and 1.2 p.p. compared to the same period last year (9.1%).

“This decline was chiefly due to the expansion in the number of people working,” survey coordinator Adriana Beringuy pointed out.

A rise in employment

The number of employed Brazilians grew again following two quarters on the wane, reaching 99.3 million—up 1.3 million from February–April. “After the pandemic, we had a period of recovery in the employed population where we recorded intense increases across a range of activities. As this recovery consolidates, the gains are once again more strongly influenced by the economic and seasonal characteristics of each activity. As a result, under the annual perspective, growth becomes less intense,” Beringuy argued.

The jobless population totaled 8.5 million people, down 6.3 percent from the previous quarter and 3.8 percent from the same period in 2022.