The unemployment rate (12.9%) in the moving quarter ended in May 2020 increased 1.2 percentage points in relation to the quarter from December 2019 to February 2020 (11.6%) and 0.6 percentage points in relation to the same quarter of 2019 (12.3%).

The unemployed population (12.7 million persons) increased 3.0% (more  368 thousand persons) against the previous moving quarter (12.3 million persons) and remained statistically stable against the same quarter of 2019 (13.0 million persons).

The employed population (85.9 million) fell 8.3% (less 7.8 million persons) in relation to the previous quarter and 7.5% (less 7.0 million persons) in relation to the same quarter of 2019. Both drops were records in the time series.

The employment-population ratio – percentage of employed persons in the population at working age – dropped to 49.5%, the lowest one in the time series started in 2012, with a reduction of 5.0 p.p. over the previous quarter (54.5%) and of 5.0 p.p. over the same quarter of 2019 (54.5%).

The composite underutilization rate (27.5%) was a record in the time series, rising 4.0 p.p. in relation to the previous quarter (23.5%) and 2.5 p.p. in relation to 2019 (25.0%).

The underutilized population (30.4 million persons) was a record in the time series, increasing 13.4% (more 3.6 million persons) against the previous quarter (26.8 million) and 6.5% (more 1.8 million persons) against the same period of 2019 (28.5 million persons).

The population out of the workforce (75.0 million persons) increased by 9.0 million persons (13.7%) when compared with the previous quarter and by 10.3 million persons (15.9%) against the same quarter of 2019.

The discouraged population (5.4 million) registered one more record in the time series, rising 15.3% over the previous quarter and 10.3% over the same period of 2019.

The percentage of discouraged in relation to the population either in the workforce or discouraged (5.2%) was also a record, posting a rise of 1.0 p.p. over the previous quarter (4.2%) and of 0.8 p.p. compared with the same quarter of 2019 (4.4%).

The number of employed persons with a formal contract in the private sector – excluding domestic workers – fell to 31.1 million, the lowest level in the time series, being 7.5% below (-2.5 million persons) the previous quarter and 6.4% below (-2.1 million persons) the same period of 2019.

The number of employed persons without a formal contract in the private sector (9.2 million persons) reduced by 2.4 million persons (-20.8%) over the previous quarter and by 2.2 million persons (-19.0%) over the same quarter last year.

The number of self-employed workers dropped to 22.4 million persons, a reduction of 8.4% against the previous quarter and of 6.7% against the same period of 2019.

The informality rate was 37.6% of the employed population, or 32.3 million informal workers, the lowest level in the time series started in 2016. This rate had been 40.6% in the previous quarter and 41.0% in the same quarter of 2019.

The usual real earnings (R$2,460) rose 3.6% against the previous quarter and 4.9% against the same period of 2019. On the other hand, the usual real wage bill (R$206.6 billion reais) retreated 5.0% in relation to the previous quarter and 2.8% in relation to 2019.

The wage bill includes only earnings from labor, not including earnings from other sources, such as: Retirement, Rental, Bolsa Família, BPC, Unemployment Insurance, Emergency Aid, etc. The Emergency Aid paid to persons taken away from their jobs is not included in the labor earnings of Continuous PNAD. Earnings from other sources are captured by Continuous PNAD to be released in the yearly consolidated, thus not allowing to be released on a quarterly basis.

Unemployment Rate - Brazil - 2012-2020 (%)

Concerning the activity groups, only the group of Public administration, defense, social security, education, human health and social services (4.6%) increased in relation to the previous moving quarter.

In contrast, nine groups decreased: Agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing and aquaculture (-4.5%), Industry (-10.1%), Construction (-16.4%), Trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (-11.1%), Transportation, storage and mailing (-8.4%), Housing and food (-22.1%), Information, Communication and Financial, Real Estate, Professional and Administrative Activities (-3.2%), Other services (-13.3%) and Domestic services (-18.7%).

Compared with the same quarter of 2019, only the group involving Public administration (3.6%) rose. The drops were: Agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing and aquaculture (-6.8%); Industry (-7.8%); Construction (-15.6%); Trade and repair of vehicles (-9.4%); Transportation, storage and mailing (-6.8%); Housing and food (-19.5%); Other services (-11.4%) and Domestic services (-18.6%).

Estimated at 98.6 million persons, the workforce – employed and unemployed persons – fell 7.0% (less 7.4 million persons) compared with the previous quarter and 6.9% (less 7.3 million persons) against the same period of 2019.

The number of employers (4.0 million persons) declined 8.5% (-377 thousand persons) against the previous quarter and 8.8% over the same quarter of 2019 (-388 thousand).

Estimated at 5.0 million persons, the category of domestic workers retreated 18.9% against the previous quarter and 18.6% against the same period a year ago.

Conversely, the group of those employed in the public sector (12.3 million persons), which includes statutory servants and military, increased 7.8% over the previous quarter and 6.2% over the same period last year.

The number of time-related underemployed persons (5.8 million) retreated 10.7% (less 697 thousand persons) against the previous quarter and 19.9% in relation to the same quarter of 2019, when 7.2 million persons were underemployed in Brazil.

Composite underutilization rate – quarters from March to May – 2012 to 2020 - Brazil (%)

Concerning the average usual real earnings in relation to the previous moving quarter, the following categories increased: Industry (5.6%) and Construction (7.9%). The other groups did not show any significant change. Compared with the same period of 2019, the increase was in the categories of Industry (8.8%) and Other services (8.4%), and the others did not change significantly.

Among employment categories, the average usual real earnings of those employed with a formal contract (2.6%) and also those without a formal contract (7.8%) increased over the previous quarter. In relation to the same period of 2019, those same categories increased 3.8% and 13.4%, respectively.

Average monthly real earnings, usually earned in the reference month,
from all jobs of employed persons - Brazil - 2012/2020 (R$)