Unemployment in São Paulo fell in the 3rd quarter of 2023, influencing the national result - Photo: Paulo Pinto/Public Photographs

In the third quarter of 2023, unemployment in Brazil reached 7.7%, a drop of 0.3 percentage points (pp) compared to the second quarter. The retraction was followed by only three Federation Units (UFs): Acre, Maranhão and São Paulo. On the other hand, in Roraima there was an increase while the other FUs remained stable. In comparison with the same quarter in 2022 (8.7%), the decrease was 1 pp. Data from the quarterly results of the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Continuous PNAD) are released today (22) by the IBGE.

All Major Regions showed declining trend from the 2nd quarter to the 3rd quarter of 2023, but only the Southeast had a statistically significant drop in unemployment, from 7.9% to 7.5%, being, therefore, the main contributor to the drop in the rate at the national level.
 
According to Adriana Beringuy, IBGE coordinator of Labor and Income, the result in São Paulo was fundamental for the national result of the 3rd quarter. "In the state of São Paulo, unemployment fell from 7.8% to 7.1%." The decline in Brazil was not a process spread across the states. Most of the FUs shows a downward trend in the unemployment rate, but only 3 states register a statistically significant drop, mainly due to the reduction in unemployment. And São Paulo is important given the size of the job market, which greatly influences the drop at a national level”, explains the researcher.

Also according to the survey, the unemployed population in São Paulo fell by 8.4%. "It is a process of decline due to a reduction in the demand for work, with a statistical increase in the population employed in information, communication and financial, real estate, professional and administrative activities", details Ms. Beringuy, mentioning the sector that had an increase of 6, 4% in the number of employed persons.

Two other states also saw a drop in unemployment. In Maranhão, the rate went from 8.8% to 6.7%, while in Acre, it went from 9.3% to 6.2%. “In both cases, there is a stronger movement, because in addition to the retraction of the reduction in demand, there was an expansion in employment. In the case of Maranhão, this happened mainly in the lodging and food sector", observes the analyst.

On the other hand, only in Roraima was there an increase in unemployment in the 3rd quarter of 2023, from 5.1% to 7.6%. In regional terms, the Northeast remained with the highest rate (10.8%), and the South, with the lowest (4.6%).

Informality is above the national average in the North and Northeast

The informality rate in the country was 39.1% of the employed population in the 3rd quarter of 2023. Regionally, the North (52.8%) and the Northeast (51.8%) recorded rates above the national average. In the analysis by State, the highest percentages were in Maranhão (57.3%), Pará (57.1%) and Amazonas (55.0%). Santa Catarina (26.8%), Federal District (30.6%) and São Paulo (31.3%) had the lowest rates.

Regarding the underutilization rate, the survey shows that Piauí (38.4%) recorded the highest percentage in the 3rd quarter of 2023, followed by Bahia (32.8%) and Sergipe (31.8%). The lowest rates were in Rondônia (5.3%), Santa Catarina (6.1%), and Mato Grosso (8.4%). Rondônia, in fact, has the highest percentage of self-employed workers (34%), above the national average (25.5%). The lowest rate in this index was recorded in the Federal District (19%).

Average earnings grow in the South and Southeast

The survey also shows that the average monthly earnings for the 3rd quarter of 2023 was estimated at R$2,982, an increase in relation to both the 2nd quarter (R$2,933) and the 3rd quarter of 2022 (R$2,862).

The South (R$ 3,276) and Southeast Regions (R$ 3,381) showed growth from the 2nd to the 3rd quarter, while the others remained stable. Compared to the same quarter in 2022, there was an increase in the North, Southeast and Central-West Regions, while the others remained stable.

The average real income from all jobs was R$292,952 million, an increase both compared to the previous quarter (R$285,243 million) and to the 3rd quarter of 2022 (R$278,942 million).

Unemployment falls among those who have been looking for a job for longer periods of time

The Quarterly Continuous PNAD showed that persons in the groups spending longer periods of time looking for work showed reductions when comparing the 3rd quarter of 2023 with that of 2022. Among those who had been looking for a job for more than 2 years, the drop was 28.2%, falling from 2.5 million persons in 2022 to 1.8 million in 2023. There was also a reduction in the range from 1 year to less than 2 years (-14.2%) and in the range from one month to less than a year (- 7.4%). Only the range that includes people looking for work for less than a month showed an increase of 3.2% (from 1.5 million to 1.6 million).

More about the survey

The Continuous PNAD is the main instrument for monitoring the workforce in the country. The survey sample per quarter in Brazil corresponds to 211 thousand households surveyed. Around two thousand interviewers work on the survey, in 26 states and in the Federal District, integrated into the collection network of more than 500 IBGE agencies. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, IBGE implemented the collection of survey information by telephone starting on March 17, 2020. In July 2021, in-person collection was resumed. Respondents can check interviewers' IDs on the website Respondendo ao IBGE (Answering the IBGE) or via Call Center (0800 721 8181). For more information, please consult survey data on Sidra and on the Interactive Dashboard. The next release of the Quarterly PNAD will be on February 16th.