A comparative study of the new series of the Monthly Employment Survey, which has been conducted since March 2003, shows significant advances in the job market.

A comparative study of the new series of the Monthly Employment Survey, which has been conducted since March 2003, shows significant advances in the job market: the level of unemployment has never been so low and the level of formal employment, so high. The average income of workers has increased by 7.7%; black and brown workers still receive lower salaries than white ones.   

The Monthly Employment Survey (PME) will celebrate its sixth year anniversary since the implementation of the new methodology; until December, there were 70 months of continuous investigation. The updates and changes implemented allowed the study of labor market in more detail. Positive records were detected in the survey time series, with the identification of a more solid labor market, characterized by a bigger offer of jobs and a lower number of persons looking for a position.

Official employment increases

In 2007 (annual average), 42.4% of the employed population had a formal contract signed in the private sector. In 2003, this figure was 39.7%.

Table 13: Distribution of employed persons, by metropolitan areas, by position in the occupation

The table below shows the level of occupation¹, which had an average figure of 51.6% in 2007. In Belo Horizonte, this rate was 54.3%, whereas in Recife, 43.1%. In comparison with 2003, it was observed there was increase by 1.6 percentage points; in relation to 2006, the change was 0.4 percentage points.

Unemployment reaches the lowest level in all the time series

Pressure in the labor market has decreased. In December 2007, the estimated unemployment rate was 7.4%, reaching, this way, its lowest level since the beginning of the survey. The estimated average annual unemployment rate for 2007 was 93%, another record figure in this series. The table below shows the number of unemployment persons in each, metropolitan area investigated by PME, in 2007, and the percent changes in comparison with previous years in the series.

Number of social security contributors increases

The number of workers contributing to social security was 61.1%, in 2003, and it increased to 64.1%, in 2007.

The estimated figures for employed population contributing to social security reveal that, both in the last year and in comparison with 2003, there was increase above that of the employed population. It is worth mentioning that, between 2003 and 2007, the number of employed persons increased by 11.9% and, as shown in the table below, the change was 17.3% among those which contributed to security. The metropolitan area which had the highest percentage of employed contributors was Porto Alegre (68.4%) and the one with the lowest one was Recife (56.3%).

Among employed persons who contributed to social security in 2007, 57.3% were men and 42.7%, women. In relation to age, it was observed that 15.3% of the employed contributors were between 18 and 24 years of age; 66.9% were between 25 and 49 years and 17.1% were 50 years of age or over.

Income increased by 7.7% in four years

The annual average real monthly income usually earned increased by 3.2% from 2006 to 2007, and, in four years (from 2003 to 2007), by 7.7%.

Despite the visible recovery of the income of employed population in the last three years, the purchasing power in the metropolitan areas surveyed has not yet recovered to the level reached in 2002*. In the second semester of 2007, real average income (R$ 1,141.92) was 4.9% lower than in the same period of 2002 (R$ 1,200.19). When the comparison period considered goes from March to December of each year, from 2002 to 2007, there is reduction by 5% (R$ 1,205.39 in 2002 and R$ 1,145.08 in 2007).

Women earn approximately 70% of the salary received by men

The work income of women, estimated to be R$ 927.09, continues below the income of men (R$ 1,314.43). In 2007, in comparison with the annual average of income of men and women, it was observed that, on average, women earn about 70%of the income received by men.

The annual average monthly income received by men in 2007 increased by 3.3%, and at the same proportion for women. In Recife, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the change in the income of women, from 2006 to 2007, surpassed the change in the income of the male population. In Salvador, Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre, the opposite occurred.

 There was increase of income of all the types of participation in the job market, including own-account workers; non-registered workers (without a formal employment contract); military and statutory civil servants.

The same occurred in the groups of activity; purchasing power increased in all of them. One example is the domestic worker. This category has been receiving more; in the comparison of 2003 and 2007, there was increase of 15.9% in the annual average of the average monthly income of these workers.

It is necessary to mention that the household income per capita increased 12.7% in four years. The volume of monthly real income usually earned (annual average) estimated for 2007 was R$ 24 billion, which resulted in an increase of 19.2% in four years (from 2003 to 2007).

The income of black or brown workers increased 11.4% in four years, whereas the income of white ones, by 8.8%. On average, black or brown workers receive less than half of the income received by white ones.

Blacks and browns still earn less than whites

The income of black or brown workers increased 11.4% in four years, whereas the income of white ones, by 8.8%. On average, black or brown workers receive less than half of the income received by white ones.

Level of schooling of workers also increases

In relation to schooling, the population increase was mainly represented by the group of persons having at least 11 years of schooling: in 2007, they represented 53.9% of the employed persons, versus 46.7% in 2003. The highlight in this case was Recife, which had increase of 8.2 percentage points in this period of comparison. Al the other groups faced reduction of participation, except in Porto Alegre, where there was increase of the proportion of employed persons with 8 to 10 years of schooling.  

With reference to the distribution of the population with a degree, it was observed that the increase in relation to the overall employed population reached 15.6%, in 2007, versus 13.8%, in 2003. By area, the highlight was the population of Rio de Janeiro which, in this period, increased 2.7 percentage points. It is also observed that, although Salvador had a high percentage of persons with at least 11 years of schooling, this metropolitan area presents the lowest level of participation of the employed population with a degree (10.9%). This evolution is summarized in the table below:

One out of five workers is aged 50 or over

An analysis of PME between 2003 and 2007 also shows increase of the presence of workers aged 50 years or over in the labor market: they were 16.8% of the employed population, in 2003, and increased to 19.1% in 2007. In the same period, the percentage of workers in the group aged from 18 to 24 years decreased from 16.8% to 15.6%. Reduction of this kind, from 2006 to 2007, occurred in all the metropolitan areas investigated by PME, except Belo Horizonte.

Still in relation to the distribution of the employed population by age group, it is worth mentioning that, in the metropolitan area of Recife, the participation of the population employed in the group aged 25 to 49 years increased from 64.3%, in 2003, to 66.0%, in 2007; in the group aged 50 years or over, participation increased from 16.0% to 17.7% in 2007. . As a consequence, there was reduction of participation of youngsters in the employed population.

Finally, it is worth mentioning the participation of women in the job market has increased continuously. In 2007, they already 44.4% of the employed population, versus 43.0% in 2003.

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 ¹Proportion of employed persons at active age.

^*The time series of PME, which started in March 2002, does not allow an annual comparison; for this reason the comparison was made between the second semesters and the months of March and December.

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