Continuous PNAD
Unemployment remains in decline and reaches 9.1% in the quarter ended July
August 31, 2022 09h00 AM | Last Updated: September 01, 2022 10h16 PM
The unemployment rate, which measures unemployment in the country, fell to 9.1% in the quarter ended July. This rate represents a decrease of 1.4 percentage points in comparison with the previous quarter, ended April. That is the lowest index since the quarter ended December 2015 (9.1%). The number of employed persons reached 98.7 million, a record in the time series that started in 2012. After two years, the average real earnings increased again and reached R$ 2,693 in the quarter.
The data comen from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey - Continuous PNAD, released today (31) by the IBGE.
The employment-population ratio (indicator that measures the percentage of employed persons in the population at working age) was estimated at 57%, with an increase of 1.1 percentage points against the quarter ended April. As for the same quarter in 2021, the increase is even higher: 4.1 p. p. “One can observe the continuing trend to increase of employment and a significant drop in the undempoyment rate,” says Adriana Beringuy, IBGE’s coordinator for Household Sample Surveys.
Two activities led to the drop of unemployment in July. In “Trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles,” recorded a decrease by 692 thousand persons in the labor market (3.7%) agains the previous quarter. In the sector “Publoc administration, defense, social security, education humand health and social services,” the increment amounted to 648 thousand persons (3.9%).
“These two activiites stood out, but it is worth mentioning that no group of economic activity recorded a drop in employment. That is, all the sectors added persons to the labor market,” says Ms. Beringuy. In the annual comparison, with the quarter ended July 2021, the sector of “Agriculture, livestock,forestry, fishing and aquaculture” was the only one that did not record changes in the employed population.
Number of workers without a formal contract reaches 13.1 million and hits a record
The increase in the number of persons in the labor market was widespread in terms of employment types. A highlight was the number of domestic workers (5.9 million persons), with an increase of 4.4% against the previous quarter; another highlight was the number of employers (4.3 million persons), with an increase of 3.9%. The number of workers with a formal contract in the private sector (except domestic workers) also increased by 1.6% from the previous quarter, and reached 35.8 million. The number of self-employed persons was 25.9 million, an increase of 1.3%.
The number of persons employed in the public sector (12 million persons) increased 4.7% in the quarter. The number of workers without a formal constract in the private sector hit a record in the timeseries and reached 13.1 million persons, an increase of 4.8% from the quarter ended April. The informality rate was 39.8% of the employed population, against 40.% in the previous quarter) and reached 39.3 million. Among unemployed persons, the population out of the workforce remained stable in July, with 64.7 million persons. The discouraged population fell 5% and reached 4.2 million persons.
Average earnings up again after 2 years
Continuous PNAD, released by the IBGE, also shows that average real earnings increased once more after two years and reached R$ 2,693 in the quarter ended July. “Significant increase was observed two years ago, precisely, in the quarter ended July 2020,” says Ms. Beringuy. That figure is 2.9% higher than in the previous quarter, but 2.9% lower than in the same period in 2021. The increase was driven by employers (6.1%, or R$ 369) military corps and statutory civil servants (3.8%, or R$ 176) and by self-employed persons (3.0% or R$ 63). The other groups recorded no changes. The usual real wage bill (R$260.7 billion) grew 5.3% from the previous quarter and 6.1% in the annual comparison.
More about the survey
The Continuous PNAD is the main instrument to monitor workforce in Brazil. The survey sample per quarter corresponds to 211 thousand households surveyed in Brazil. Nearly two thousand interviewers work in the survey in 26 states and in the Federal District, integrated to the data collection network of more than 500 IBGE branches.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the IBGE implemented data collection by telephone on March 17, 2020. In July 2021, face-to-face data collection was resumed. The id of the interviewers can be confirmed at the Answering the IBGE or via Call Center (0800 7218181) by checking their ID numbers, which can be requested by the informants. See PNAD data at Sidra.
