The unemployment rate in Brazil stood at 11.1% in the first quarter of this year, with 11.9 million people looking for work in the country. In relation to the previous quarter, there was stability, when the registered rate was also 11.1%, and a drop of 3.8 percentage points compared to the same quarter of 2021 (14.9%). Average income fell by 8.7% compared to the same period last year.
The unemployment rate is the lowest for a quarter ending in March since 2016, when it was also 11.1%.
The employed population, estimated at 95.3 million, fell by 0.5% in the same comparison, which means 472 thousand fewer people in the job market. Compared to the same period in 2021, the number rose 9.4% (8.2 million more people).
The data are from Pnad Contínua (Continuous National Household Sample Survey), released today by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
According to the coordinator of Work and Income at IBGE, Adriana Beringuy, the stability of the unemployment rate is explained by the fact that there was no growth in the search for work in the quarter.
“If we look at unemployment in retrospect, through the historical series of the survey, we can see that, in the first quarter, this population usually increases due to the dismissals that occurred at the beginning of the year. The quarter ended in March differed from these patterns”, he says.
Yield grows in the quarter
The real average income was estimated at R$ 2,548 by the IBGE, a growth of 1.5% in relation to the quarter ended in December. However, in comparison with the quarter ended in March last year, there was a drop of 8.7%.
“This increase is important if we consider that this indicator had been falling since the second quarter of last year. In general, when the participation of formal workers increases, the average income of the employed population tends to grow”, explains the coordinator.
The income mass was stable compared to the previous quarter. It was estimated at R$ 237.7 billion, also remaining stable in comparison with the same period of the previous year.
Informality rate reaches 40.1%
The informality rate was 40.1% of the employed population, equivalent to 38.2 million informal workers. In the October-December quarter, the rate had been 40.7% and, in the same quarter of 2021, 39.1%.
The fall of self-employed workers compared to the last quarter was 2.5%, which represents the departure of 660 thousand people from this category. Of this contingent, 475,000 were workers without a CNPJ.
Underutilization and discouragement
According to the institute, the underutilized population is 26.8 million people, down 5.4% (1.5 million people less) compared to the previous quarter and 20.3% (6.8 million people less) ) compared to the same quarter of 2021.
According to the IBGE, anyone who is unemployed, who works less than he could, who did not look for a job but was available to work or who looked for a job but was not available for the vacancy is considered underused.
The discouraged — — those who have given up looking for work — total 4.6 million people, down 4.1% from the previous quarter and down 22.4% (1.3 million fewer people) compared to the same quarter. of 2021.
about the search
The Continuous PNAD is the main instrument for monitoring the workforce in the country. The survey sample per quarter in Brazil corresponds to 211 thousand households surveyed. About two thousand interviewers work on the survey, in 26 states and the Federal District.
Due to the covid-19 pandemic, IBGE implemented the collection of information from the survey by telephone as of March 17, 2020. In July 2021, there was a return to face-to-face collection.
Economists: More work, but unemployment rate won’t fall
Report published by UOL in January shows that, according to the assessment of economists, the opening of job vacancies will maintain in 2022 the recovery trend registered in 2021, both in the formal contract and in informal work. But this increase in employed workers should not greatly reduce the unemployment rate, which will remain at around 13%.
With the normalization of activities in the economy due to greater control of the covid-19 pandemic, there will be an increase in vacancies, but the unemployment rate will not decline because more people who were not even looking for a replacement in the market because of the crisis now will look for opportunities again. That way, these people will count in the statistics. That is, more people will be employed, but at the same time more people will be looking for a job.
Economists also highlighted that inflation and interest rates hinder employment and income.
