For the first time in 15 months of the pandemic, more than half of the working-age population was employed in July, with growth in both formal and informal jobs.
According to the IBGE, the unemployment rate in Brazil was 13.7% in the quarter ended that month.
This indicates stability in relation to July of last year and a drop of one point compared to the quarter ended in April, possibly due to vaccination against Covid – which foreshadows an improvement, especially in the services sector. The country still has 14.1 million unemployed people, above the pre-pandemic level.
The increase in jobs was greater among informal workers, who are now 40.8% of workers with some type of activity, or 36.3 million individuals. There was an increase of 6.2% in this group compared to the period from February to April. Among those with a formal contract, the increase was 3.5%.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon