Unemployment rate of 8.5% is the lowest for April since 2015, says IBGE

The data are from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Continuous PNAD) and were released this Friday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

This is also the second consecutive year in which the unemployment rate does not grow in relation to the quarter ended in January, as it usually happens in this period. In 2022, the rate dropped by 0.7%. This year, it remained stable.

According to IBGE researcher Alessandra Brito, there was no increase in the unemployed population either, which remained stable at 9.1 million people. “What explains why this (unemployment) rate has remained stable (in the quarterly comparison) is because demand (for work) has not increased statistically as expected due to the seasonal issue”, she says.

She also points out that the underutilized population, those who are unemployed or who could work more than they do, stood at 21 million people, that is, 2.5% less than in the previous quarter (ending in January) and 19.6% lower than the same period last year (quarter ended April 2022).

The population outside the labor force, that is, those who are neither working nor looking for a job, increased, reaching 67.2 million people. There were increases of 1.3% compared to the previous quarter and 3.5% in the year.

“When we are going to look at the population outside the force, one might think that people have given up looking because the market is bad, but that is not what it seems. The discouraged population has reduced and the potential workforce has also reduced”, says the researcher.

The discouraged population is formed by those who would like to work and were available, but did not look for work for various reasons. This contingent reached 3.8 million people, 4.8% less than in the previous quarter and 15.3% less than last year.

The potential workforce comprises those people who looked for work, but were not available, and those who would like to work, but did not get to look for a job. The size of this group dropped 6.2% quarter-on-quarter and 16.7% year-on-year.

“It does not seem to be a matter of the labor market, this increase out of strength. It doesn’t seem to be out of discouragement in relation to the job market”, says Alessandra. “It could be other factors, which are several. It could be another source of income, the person’s options, an option for more study, more qualifications. And we cannot respond with the data in these more conjunctural disclosures (research), ”she said.

According to the researcher, throughout 2022, the unemployment rate showed an improvement in relation to the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic (years 2020 and 2021) and, in recent quarters, it has been showing stability around 8%.

Occupation

The contingent of employed people, that is, those who are working in the country, stood at 98 million people, a decrease of 0.6% (less 605 thousand people) compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 1.6% (more 1.5 million people) compared to the previous year.

The level of occupation (percentage of people employed in the population of working age) reached 56.2%: a drop in relation to the previous quarter (56.7%) and an increase in comparison with the previous year (55.8%).

The loss of jobs from January to April occurred mainly in the sectors of commerce, agriculture and domestic services. The increase in relation to April 2022 can be explained by the opening of posts in the transport, storage and post office segments; information, communication and financial activities; and public administration.

Informality

The informality rate in the Brazilian labor market reached 38.9% of the employed population, that is, 38 million people. The percentage was below those observed in the previous quarter (39%) and in the same quarter of last year (40.1%).

Employees with a formal contract in the private sector (who do not do domestic work) totaled 36.8 million, stable compared to the previous quarter and 4.4% higher (1.6 million more people) compared to the previous year.

Those who work without a formal contract in the private sector (12.7 million) dropped by 2.9% (less 383 thousand people) in the quarter and remained stable in the annual comparison.

The number of self-employed workers (25.2 million people) remained stable in both comparisons.

Domestic workers reached 5.7 million people, down 3.2% in the quarter and remained stable compared to the quarter ended in April 2022.

Performance

The usual real income was R$ 2,891, stable compared to the previous quarter. There was a growth of 7.5% compared to the same period last year. The mass of usual real income (R$ 278.8 billion) was also stable compared to the previous quarter and grew 9.6% in the annual comparison.

Article updated at 11:05.