The unemployment rate fell to 6.4% in the third quarter of 2024, a reduction of 0.5 percentage points (p.p.) over the second quarter (6.9%). It is the lowest value for a third quarter since the beginning of the time series in 2012. It decreased 1.3 p.p. compared with the third quarter of 2023. The retreat in the Brazilian unemployment rate was followed by seven out of 27 Federation Units (FUs). The data are from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey - Continuous PNAD, released today (22) by the IBGE.

The highest unemployment rates were registered in Pernambuco (10.5%), Bahia (9.7%) and Federal District (8.8%), and the lowest ones in Rondônia (2.1%), Mato Grosso (2.3%) and Santa Catarina (2.8%). In addition to the seven FUs that dropped their rates, the other 20 did not record any statistically-significant change in the indicator.

"The unemployment rate hit the second lowest value in the time series, confirming the dropping trend. The reduction can be attributed to the arrival of the second semester of the year, a period in which industries begin to hire personnel aiming at production and formation of stocks in order to meet the increase in the demand in the end of the year. In the last quarter, employment in industry registered an increase of more than 400 thousand positions," highlights William Kratochwill, an analyst of the survey.  

Number of unemployed persons decreased more than 10% in all ranges of search time for a job 

In all the ranges of search time for a job, the unemployed population retreated more than 10% in the third quarter of 2024. The group of those who looked for a job for less than one month reduced 17.6%, that of those looked for a job between one month and less than one year decreased 12.1%, the contingent of those who looked for a job between one year and less than two years retreated 19.1% and the range with the highest search time (two years and over) recorded the highest percentage reduction: 20.4%. 

The number of persons who looked for a job for two years or more retreated to 1.5 million, the lowest value for a third quarter since 2014. "The upturn of the economy, reflected in the reduction of the unemployment rate, directly influences on the decrease of the search time for a job. As a result, the number of persons who were looking for a job for more than two years reduces," notes Kratochwill.   

Santa Catarina reported the lowest informality rate (26.8%) and Pará, the highest one (56.9%) 

The informality rate for Brazil was 38.8% of the employed population.  The highest rates were in Pará (56.9%), Maranhão (55.6%) and Piauí (54.5%). On the other hand, the lowest ones were registered in Santa Catarina (26.8%), Federal District (30.2%) and São Paulo (30.6%).

The informality rate of the employed population is calculated taking into account those employed in the private sector and domestic workers without a formal contract, as well as employers and self-employed workers without a CNPJ number and assisting family workers. 

Earnings remained stable in all the Brazilian regions

The real average earnings of the employed population remained stable in all the Major Regions in the third quarter of 2024 over the previous quarter. In relation to the same quarter of 2023, the average earnings grew in the Northeast (R$2,216), Southeast (R$3,656) and South (R$3,577), remaining stable in the North (R$2,482) and Central-West (R$3,683). 

Estimated at R$327.7 million, the real average wage bill from all Brazilian jobs remained stable over the previous quarter (R$325.2 million) and grew when compared with the third quarter of 2023 (R$305.8 million). The wage bill grew only in the South in relation to the second quarter of 2024, reamaining stable in the other regions. Among the five Brazilian Major Regions, the Southeast had the highest real wage bill (R$167.3 million) in the third quarter of 2024.

Unemployment rate of women was 7.7%, whereas that of men was 5.3% 

The unemployment rate by sex was 5.3% for men and 7.7% for women in the third quarter of 2024. The unemployment rate by color or race was below the national average for white persons (5.0%) and above for blacks (7.6%) and browns (7.3%).  

The unemployment rate for persons with incomplete secondary education (10.8%) was higher than those of the other schooling levels. Among persons with incomplete higher education, the rate was 7.2%, more than twice as that of persons with a higher education degree (3.2%). 

More about the survey 

The Continuous PNAD is the major survey on workforce in Brazil. At each quarter, two thousand interviewers in more than 500 branches of the IBGE´s data collection network visit a sample of 211 thousand households, covering nearly 3,500 municipalities located in the 27 Brazilian Federation Units. 

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 on the Answering the IBGE website or through the Call Center (0800 7218181), and their ID numbers can be requested by the informants.  

The survey data can also be accessed on Sidra. The next release of the Quarterly PNAD, relative to the fourth quarter of 2024, will be on February 14, 2025.