Economy

Brazil’s unemployment rate stands at 7.5%, lowest figure since 2014

The number of people with a formal contract is the highest on record

Bruno de Freitas Moura

Published on 29/05/2024 - 12:53

Agência Brasil - Rio de Janeiro

Carteira de trabalho digital. — © Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil

Brazil’s unemployment rate for the quarter ending in April stood at 7.5 percent, the lowest for the period since 2014. The rate is considered stable in relation to the moving quarter ending in January 2024 (7.6%) and 1 percentage point (pp) lower than that recorded in the same period in 2023 (8.5%).

The data are part of the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD), released on Wednesday (29) by the government´s statistics agency IBGE.

The PNAD examines all forms of employment for individuals aged 14 and above, including those with or without formal contracts, temporary positions, or self-employment, among others.

The unemployed population, referring to individuals who were not working and actively seeking employment, totaled 8.2 million, showing no notable change compared to the previous quarter ending in January 2024, but reflecting a 9.7 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2023. This accounts for 882,000 fewer unemployed individuals.

The number of employed workers reached 100.8 million, indicating stability in comparison to the previous quarter ending in January 2024. However, compared to the same period twelve months ago, there was a rise of 2.8 percent, signifying an additional 2.8 million people employed.