Labor Market for Immigrants Is Recovering in Brazil

12/14/2017 - 11h29

The labor Market for immigrants, which contracted dramatically in both 2015 and last year, has started recovering in Brazil.

Data from Caged (General Employment and Unemployment Register) analyzed by the Observatory for International Migrations (OBMigra) showed that in the first semester of this year there was a net increase of 4,704 jobs for foreigners hired.

In 2016 there was a decrease of 22.3% in the number of immigrants who got authorization to enter the formal labor market compared to 2015 (there were 36,900 in 2015 and 28,700 in 2016).

"Normally, when there is an economic crisis, immigrants are the first to be affected. But the crisis this time started in 2014 and the labor market for immigrants only started being affected at the end of 2015", said Tadeu Oliveira, a researcher for OBMigra and one of the authors of the report.

One of the reasons, Oliveira explained, is that the largest number of immigrants in the formal economy, including Haitian and Senegalese nationals, are employed in agriculture and agribusiness - like animal slaughterhouses, for example. And the agribusiness sector has been leading the economic recovery.

Permanent authorizations for employment, which are normally granted to business managers or investors, had their greatest decrease in 2016: a 41.7% reduction compared to 2015.

Since 2013, Haitians have been the primary national group of employees in the formal labor market, but their number decreased by 29.9% in 2016.

Last year, there were 25,700 Haitians working in the formal economy, followed by Portuguese (8,800), Paraguayans (7,700), Argentines (7,100) and Bolivians (5,600).

The average monthly salary for Haitians is R$ 1,173 (US$ 354) and for Norwegians is R$ 13,741 (US$ 4,151).

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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	Eduardo Knapp/Folhapress
	Since 2013, Haitians have been the primary national group of employees in the formal labor market