The unemployment rate was estimated at 5.7%, the lowest rate for February since the beginning of the series (March 2002), and it did not change in relation to the results of January (5.5%). Compared with February 2011 (6.4%), there was a contraction of 0.7 percentage points. The unemployed population (1.4 million people) was considered stable in relation to January. When compared to February 2011, it fell by 8.6% (130 thousand less people). The employed population (22.6 million) did not change in comparison to January. Contrasting with February 2011, there was an increase of 1.9%, which meant a rise of 428 thousand employed persons within 12 months. The number of workers with a formal contract in the private sector (11.2 million) did not record change in relation to January. In the annual comparison, there was an increase of 5.4%, accounting for additional 578 thousand jobs with a formal contract in a year.

The employed person’s real average income usually earned (R$ 1,699.70, the highest value since the beginning of the series in March 2002) rose by 1.2% compared with January. Against February last year, the employed persons’ purchasing power grew 4.4%.  The volume of income usually earned (R$ 38.7 billion) increased by 1.6% in relation to January. Compared with February 2011, the volume grew 5.8%. The employed persons’ volume of effective real income (R$ 47.1 billion), estimated in January 2012, fell by 0.7% in the month and rose by 29.6 % in the period of a year.

The Monthly Employment Survey is conducted in the metropolitan regions of Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Porto Alegre.  The complete publication can be accessed at www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/trabalhoerendimento/pme_nova/.

The unemployed contingent (jobless people trying to get in the market) was estimated in 1.4 million in the group of the six regions surveyed, a stable result in relation to last January. When compared to February 2011, this estimate fell by 8.6% (130 thousand less people).

The regional analysis showed that, in relation to January, the contingent of the unemployed grew 12.5% in São Paulo and was stable in the other regions surveyed. Contrasting with February last year, there was a sharp downfall in the number of the unemployed in Recife (32.1%), Salvador (25.2%) and Belo Horizonte (24.4%). A rise of 18.0% in this estimate was seen in Rio de Janeiro, whereas, in São Paulo and in Porto Alegre, it remained stable.

Employment level stays at 53.6%

The employment level (proportion of employed people in relation to people in working age), estimated in February 2012 at 53.6% in the total of the six regions, did not mark a significant change in relation to last January and February 2011. Regionally, in the monthly comparison, all the regions remained unchanged.  Against February last year, Recife and Belo Horizonte recorded increase (2.6 and 1.2 percentage points, respectively). 

The analysis of the employed contingent, according to groups of economic activities, from January to February 2012, did not show any relevant changes in any of the groups. In comparison with February 2012, there were positive changes in services provided to enterprises, renting, real estate activities and financial intermediation, a rise of 4.6% (163 thousand people), and in education, health and public administration, a rise of 3.7% (129 thousand people).

In the annual comparison, average income increases in five of the six regions

In the regional analysis, the workers’ average real income usually earned in relation to January fell in Recife(5.5%), Salvador (2,4%), Belo Horizonte (1.7%) and Porto Alegre (2.4%). It grew in Rio de Janeiro (3.7%) and in São Paulo (2.6%). Compared with February 2011, the income rose in Recife (6.7%), Salvador (18.6%), Belo Horizonte (7.0%), Rio de Janeiro (0.4%) and São Paulo (5.4%).  It decreased in Porto Alegre (2.4%).

In the classification by activity, there were positive changes against January in all groups (except in Education, which remained stable). The highlights were mining and quarrying industry, manufacturing industry and distribution of electricity, gas and water, with a growth of 2.2%. In the annual comparison, just Services provided to enterprises, renting, real estate activities and financial intermediation posted a decrease, 1.6%.

Conversely, in the classification by employment type, there was a reduction on the average real income usually earned, in comparison to January, for the Military and civil servants (-3.6%): 

Unemployment rate posts decrease in three regions in relation to January

Concerning the regions, in the monthly analysis, the unemployment rate (proportion of unemployed persons in relation to the economically active population - which comprises the employed and unemployed) recorded a significant change only in São Paulo, from 5.5% to 6.1%. Against February 2011, the rate registered drops in Recife, Salvador and Belo Horizonte (2.7, 2.5 and 1.6 percentage points, respectively). In Rio de Janeiro, it was up 0.8 percentage points (coming from 4.9% to 5.7%) and it remained stable in São Paulo and in Porto Alegre.