A hangover from years of recession and much faith in the "Myth," as Jair Bolsonaro is known among his supporters. The two feelings form a portrait of Brazil as shown by the thousands that attended the president's inauguration in Brasília.
His supporters told tales of nearly ruined businesses and job postings eliminated. But they also spoke of hope for change: many already see a new economic growth cycle in the heels of Bolsonaro's victory.
According to Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), manufacturing idleness is reaching 25%, against 17% from five years before the recession. A Datafolha poll shows that 65% of Brazilians think that the economy will improve in the next few months - in August, only 23% of the respondents professed the same belief.
Some favorable economic indicators are the inflation below target in 2018 and for 2019, the prediction of the underlying interest rate (Selic) being stable at around 6.5%.
In late 2014, Brazil's unemployment rate reached an unprecedented 4.8%. Currently, it is around 11.7%. About 75% of all new jobs created are either informal or coming from non-incorporated companies.
Numbers from the Temer administration show that, in the next two years, 98% of all federal spending budget could be committed to Social Security and payroll, with only 2% remaining for everything else.
In the last three years, the amount of Brazilians considered poor (with a monthly family income below US$ 60 per capita) increased over 33%, mostly in the Northeast region, where six of the ten most violent states in the country are also located.
Translated by NATASHA MADOV