Monthy Continuous PNAD
Unemployment rate increases to 7.9% and employed population drops by 0.8%
April 30, 2024 09h00 AM | Last Updated: May 01, 2024 01h23 AM
The unemployment rate reached 7.9% in the quarter ended March 2024, with an increase of 0.5 percentage points from the quarter ended December 2023. This rate, however, is below the 8.8% registered in the same moving quarter in 2023. These data come from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD), released today by the IBGE.
The rise of unemployment in the monthly comparison was driven by the increase in the number of persons searching for work, called unemployed population, which increased by 6.7% from the quarter ended December 2023, that is, by 542 thousand persons searching for work. Despite the increase, the unemployed population remains 8.6% below the total counted in the same moving quarter in 2023.
Another factor accounting for this higher unemployment rate was the drop in the employed population in Brazil. The total fell by 0.8% in the monthly comparison, although it is still 2.4% above the number of workers found by Continuous PNAD Contínua in Q1 2023.
According to Adriana Beringuy, IBGE's coordinator for Household Surveys, “the increase of unemployment rate was caused by decrease of employment. This situation characterizes a seasoal movement of workforce in the first quarter of each year, with drops in employment agains the previous quarter.”
Despite the increase in the quarterly comparison, this unemployment rate is the lowest ever registered for a quarter ended March since 2014, when it reached 7.2%. The analyst observes that, as a result, “the seasonal movement in this quarter does not cancel the trend to decrease of unemployment rate observed in the last two years."
In spite of the reduction of the employment population, the number of workers with a formal contract did not change significantly from the previous moving quarter (ended December), having remained at 38.0 million. Adriana Beringuy believes “employment stability with a formal contract in the private sector, in a quarter marked by employment reduction as a whole, is an important indicator of the maintenance of gains in the formalization of work.”
Earnings remain on the rise
A consequence of the maintenance of employment with a formal contract is that the average earnings of employed persons reached R$ 3,123, with an increase of 1.5% in the quarter andd of 4.0% in the annual comparison. Among the groups of activities surveyed by Continuous PNAD, the comparison with the quarter ended December 2023 indicates increases in earnings from Transportation, storage and mailing (4.3%, or R$ 122), Other services (6.7%, or R$ 158) and Domestic services (2.1%, or R$ 25), without significant changes in any groups.
Against the same quarter in 2023, there were increases in earnings from Industry (7.5%, or R$ 215), Trade, repair of motor vehiclea and motorcycles (3.9%, or R$ 96), Transportation, storage and mailing (7.1%, or R$ 198) and Public administration, defense, social security, education, human health and social services (3.6%, or R$ 152). The other groups did not record any significant changes.
AIn spite of the rise of average earnings, in the monthly comparison, the real wagebill of workers, which is the sum of earnings received by all the employed population in the country, remained stable in the quarter ended December 2023. Adriana Beringuy remarks that the reuction of employed population, in the quarter, added to the maintenance of wagebill without significant changes, in this same comparison.
More about the survey
Continuous PNAD is the main instrument for monitoring the workforce in the country. The survey sample by quarter in Brazil corresponds to 211 thousand households surveyed. Around two thousand interviewers work on the survey, in 26 states and the Federal District, integrated into the collection network of more than 500 IBGE branches.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the IBGE implemented the collection of survey information by telephone on March 17, 2020. In July 2021, in-person collection was resumed. Respondents can confirm the identity of IBGE interviewers on the website Respondendo ao IBGE or via Call Center (0800 721 8181), checking data such as registration number, ID or CPF.
You can also find PNAD data on Sidra.
