Brazil unemployment down to 11.1% in fourth quarter of 2021

The unemployment rate in Brazil fell to 11.1 percent in the fourth quarter, 1.5 percentage points lower than in the previous quarter (12.6%). The figure accounts for 12 million people looking for work.

The average annual rate was 13.2 percent, which shows a recovery trend from 2020 (13.8%), when the labor market sustained the strongest impact from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The figures can be found in the National Continuous Household Sample Survey (known as Pnad Contínua), released in Rio de Janeiro today (Feb. 24) by statistics agency IBGE.

“This decline in the fourth quarter was quite expressive. In the last months of the year, the indicator tends to sink due to seasonal factors. In this period, there is usually lower joblessness as a result of a greater absorption of workers into activities such as trade, lodging, and food. Added to this is a recovery in employment underway since August last year,” Adriana Beringuy, IBGE coordinator for Work and Income, reports.

The surge in employment in the fourth quarter is said to stem partly from formal jobs in the private enterprise. In this sector, the number of formally registered workers rose 2.9 percent from the previous quarter—a total of 987 thousand more people. For informal workers, the surge was 6.4 percent, or 753 thousand people.

Among the self-employed, the growth was 483 thousand people (1.9%), while in-house workers rose by 341 thousand (6.4%).

An expansion was reported in employment across most activities, especially in trade (up 3.4 percent, or 602 thousand people), other services (11.8 percent, 521 thousand), and information and communication (3.3 percent, 367 thousand). Industry, one of the segments with the highest number of workers (12.4 million), held steady in the fourth quarter.