Monthy Continuous PNAD
Unemployment retreats to 7.1%, lowest rate for a quarter ending in May since 2014
June 28, 2024 09h00 AM | Last Updated: June 28, 2024 03h40 PM
In the moving quarter ended in May 2024, the unemployment rate retreated 0.7 percentage points (p.p.) over the quarter from December to February 2024 (7.8%), hitting 7.1%. It also retreated in the comparison with the same moving quarter in 2023 (8.3%): -1.2 p.p. As a result, the unemployment rate was the lowest one for a moving quarter ended in May since 2014 (7.1%). The data are from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Continuous PNAD), released today by the IBGE.
The unemployed population - those who did not work and looked for a job in the reference period of the survey - also reduced in the two comparisons: -8.8% (less 751 thousand persons) in the quarter and -13.0% (less 1.2 million persons) in the year. Therefore, this contingent reached 7.8 million, the lowest number of persons looking for a job since the quarter ended in February 2015.
The Continuous PNAD also shows that the employed population - total number of Brazilian workers - hit a new record in the time series started in 2012: it reached 101.3 million, with rises in both comparisons: 1.1% (more 1.1 million persons) in the quarter and 3.0% (more 2.9 million persons) in the year. In addition, the contingents of workers with a formal contract (38.3 million) and without a formal contract (13.7 million) were also records in the time series, as well as the total number of those employed in the private sector (52.0 million). On the other hand, the population out of the workforce did not change significantly in both comparisons, remaining at 66.8 million.
Adriana Beringuy, the IBGE Coordinator of Household Surveys, points out that "the continued growth of the employed population has been leveraged by the expansion of employees, both in the formal and informal segment. It shows that several economic activities have been tending to increase their contingents. Besides a seasonal factor in the growth of the group of Public administration, defense, social security, education, human health and social services."
Workers´ earnings and wage bill grow
The real average earnings of the employed persons was R$3,181 in the quarter ended in April, not registering anysignificant change in the quarter end growing 5.6% in the annual comparison. With the rises in earnings and employment, the wage bill, which is the sum of the compensation of all Brazilian workers, reached R$317.9 billion, a new record in the time series, rising 2.2% (more R$6.8 billion) in the quarterly comparison and 9.0% (more R$26.1 billion) in the year.
According to the coordinator, "the wage bill has maintained at higher levels due to the records in the employed population."
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 identity of the interviewers can be confirmed at the Answering the IBGE website or through the Call Center (0800 7218181), and their ID numbers can be requested by the informants.
See PNAD data at Sidra. The next release of the monthly Continuous PNAD, related to the quarter ended in June, will be on July 31.
