With Lula back, unemployment is at an eight-year low

By Ana Cristina Campos, Agência Brasil correspondent – The unemployment rate, which has held relatively stable at around 8.5%, has fallen again more strongly in the past two months, reaching the 8% level in April in the seasonally adjusted series, the lowest level in eight years.

Data were calculated by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea) based on the quarterly series of the National Continuous Household Sample Survey (PNAD), by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Improvements in some variables related to earnings, underemployment and frustration underscore this more optimistic scenario for the labor market.

In April, compared to the previous month, the working population recorded its fourth consecutive expansion, by about 99.2 million people. “Additionally, while the formal occupation posted an average annual growth of 3.2% in the most recent quarter, ending in April, the informal employed population presented a decline of 0.6%, on the same comparison basis,” says Ipea.

According to the analysis, the sectoral reduction shows that the growth of occupation occurred in a general way, but with different intensities. In the past twelve months ending in April, all sectors created job opportunities, especially trade (376.2 thousand), administrative services (264.5 thousand), manufacturing (204.9 thousand) and civil construction (191.6 thousand). In April, the group of 107.9 million individuals belonging to the labor force was 0.8% lower than that observed in the same period a year earlier.

According to the study, in the past 12 months, the frustrated population has recorded a decrease of 15.8%. The numbers fell from 4.3 million in April last year to 3.5 million in April this year. In addition to the decrease in the number of discouraged people, a decrease has been observed in the number of individuals who are outside the labor force due to studies, home obligations, and health problems, among other reasons, who are unwilling to return to activity, even in the face of a job offer.

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“A possible explanation is an improvement in the labor market, which may result in a smaller need to compensate for lost jobs and/or family income, allowing other family members to devote themselves exclusively to other activities,” says Ipea.