The year of 2011 ends with good news for Brazil: the unemployment rate, which was 5.8%, fell to 5.2% in November. In addition to being the lowest rate for the month in nine years, this is the lowest since the beginning of the historical series, in March 2002, according to the IBGE - Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute.
The number is better than the most optimistic forecasts. At this time of year, the unemployment rate usually falls due to Christmas seasonal hiring, rising slightly at the beginning of the following year.
"Free from seasonal effects, the unemployment rate decreased from 5.9% to 5.7% between October and November", says economist José Francisco Gonçalves, of Fator Bank.
It is worth remembering that the IBGE research, held in the states of Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Porto Alegre, considers the formal and informal markets. The CAGED - Ministry of Labor Employment Division's statistics, disclosed this week, however, showed reduction in the rate of formal job creation.
There is another item showing that the Brazilian labor market is hot: the November rate was below the one registered in the same period in 2010 (5.7%), when the economy grew at a much more intense speed.
IBGE reported also that the employed population (22.8 million) grew 0.7% compared to October and 1.9% in comparison with November 2010. The unemployed population (1.3 million people) rate, by comparison, fell 9.6% and 7.9% respectively.
In November, there was variation in the number of formal employees in the private sector (11.2 million) in comparison with October, according to the Institute. In the annual comparison, however, the increase was 6.8%.
Income
IBGE's research also shows that despite the real average employed people's income reaching R$ 1,623.40 (US$ 927.66), the higher value for the month of November since 2002, rose just 0.1% compared to October. However, compared to November 2010, their purchasing power grew 0.7%.
The above
summary reflects the reporting and opinions expressed by the cited news
media. Candex does not independently verify information, nor do the
reports necessarily reflect the opinion or reporting of the board of
Candex.