The main driver behind February’s inflation was transport, with 2.28 percent in the month, pulled chiefly by gasoline (7,11%). This fuel alone accounted for nearly half of the inflation in February.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labor market led to a record high in joblessness in 20 of the 27 states in the country.
Services shrank 4.5 percent, and industry 3.5 percent. These two sectors combined, IBGE reported, account for 95 percent of Brazil’s economy. Agriculture, on the other hand, was up two percent.
However, the average unemployment rate for last year was 13.5 percent—the highest since 2012—which accounts for some 13.4 million people looking for a job in the country.
Among the main crops, growths are expected in the production of soybeans (7.2%), which should add up to 130.3 million tons; corn (0.4%), which is likely to stand at 103.7 million tons; beans (4.1%); and broom-corn (0.1%).