Domestic work reduces unemployment, reinforces informality
November 30, 2017 09h00 AM | Last Updated: November 30, 2017 11h01 AM
The number of domestic workers increased 2.9% in the quarter ended in October, or more about 177 thousand job positions over the quarter ended in July. This was one of the main contributions to the drop in the unemployment rate, from 12.8% to 12.2%, in those quarters, according to the Continuous National Household Sample Survey - PNAD-C, released today by the IBGE.
Cimar Azeredo, manager of the survey, highlighted that job positions were mainly generated in the segments in which informal work prevails. Indeed, among the more 868 thousand persons in the employed population against the quarter ended in July, 326 thousand were self-employed workers, 254 thousand were employed in the private sector without a contract and 177 thousand were domestic workers.
"It is positive news when formal domestic work increases. However, persons are often looking for a domestic work without a formal contract today, since the formal economy does not provide them", explained him.
Among the activity groups, the recovery in the quarter ended in October over that ended in July was mainly due to the groups of Information, communication and financial, real estate, professional and administrative activities (rise of 3.2% or more 311 thousand jobs), Trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (rise of 1.2% or more 208 thousand jobs) and Construction (rise of 2.5% or more 169 thousand jobs). Having generated nearly 500 thousand job positions, the sector of Housing and food stood out compared with the same quarter a year ago.
Despite the decline in the quarterly comparison, the unemployment rate stayed above that reported in the same quarter in 2016, when it was at 12.2%. "Although the results in this quarter point out an increase in the employment and a reduction in the unemployment line, the figures are unfavorable in relation to those last year", concluded Cimar Azeredo.
Text: Adriana Saraiva
Artwork: Helena Pontes
Photograph: Pedro Vidal
