PNAD Contínua
Unemployment retreats to 11.2%, formal contracts increase in quarter ending in January
February 28, 2020 09h00 AM | Last Updated: February 28, 2020 12h06 PM
The unemployment rate fell to 11.2% in the quarter ended in January, a drop of 0.4 percentage points in relation to the previous quarter (from August to October 2019), when it stayed at 11.6%. It dropped 0.8 percentage points in relation to the quarter ended in January 2019, when the rate was estimated at 12.0%. These data are from the Continuous PNAD, released today (28) by the IBGE. According to the survey, Brazil has 11.9 million unemployed persons.
The contingent of employed persons (94.2 million) remained stable in relation to the previous quarter. Nevertheless, it increased when compared with the same period a year ago, an additional of 1,860 thousand persons.
"The employment-population ratio, which measures the percentage of employed persons at working age, remained stable (54.8%) in relation to the previous quarter, though it rose in relation to the same period last year, when it was estimated at 54.2%", remarks Adriana Beringuy, an analyst of PNAD.
Informality drops, employment with formal contract rises
The informality rate retreated from 41.2% in the quarter between August and October 2019 to 40.7% in the quarter ended in January 2020. "This retreat is associated with the reduction of nearly 479 thousand informal workers in relation to the previous moving quarter", points out Beringuy.
On the other hand, the contingent of employed persons with a formal contract grew 1.5% over the previous quarter, an increase of 540 thousand persons, and 2.6% against the same period last year, an increase of 845 thousand persons. "Employment with a formal contract in the private sector remained increasing, also influenced by the economic figures in the end of 2019", highlights the analyst.
The contingent of discouraged persons remained stable at 4.2%, close to the maximum level of the time series, hit in 2019 (4.4%). The group of those employed without a formal contract also remained stable in relation to the previous quarter, though it increased 3.7% in relation to the previous year (more 419 thousand persons).
