Up to September, 21.9 million persons (10.4% of the population) had made any test to know whether they were infected by the coronavirus (this figure was 17.9 million persons up to August, or 8.5% of the population). Among those persons, 22.1% (or 4.8 million) tested positive.

The unemployed population was 10.1 million in May, changed to 12.9 million in August and to 13.5 million in September. It was the record in the time series, increasing 4.3% in the month and 33.1% since the beginning of the survey. The unemployment rate increased from 13.6% in August to 14.0% in September, the highest one in the time series.

The workforce rose from 95.1 million in August to 96.4 million in September, a rise of 1.4% in relation to August.

The number of persons out of the workforce changed from 75.2 million in August to 74.1 million in September, falling 1.5% in relation to the previous month.

Acre registered the highest proportion of employed persons away from work due to social distancing, 9.8%. All the Federation Units recorded drops in the percentage of employed persons away from work due to social distancing in September over August.

Among the 5.4 million workers away from work in the reference week, 1.1 million (or 19.8%) were not being paid.

A reflection of the gradual upturn of the activities was the second consecutive increase in the number of hours effectively worked at national level and in the five Major Regions: the average number of usual hours was 40.1 hours per week and 35.1 hours were actually worked in the reference week.

The North and Northeast posted the highest proportions of households where one of the residents benefited from the emergency aid program. Three states of the North Region were among the five ones with the highest percentages: Amapá (68.4%); Maranhão (63.7%); Pará (63.3%); Alagoas (63.1%) and Amazonas (60.9%). Learn more about the IBGE actions in the fight against the pandemic on the covid19.ibge.gov.br hotsite

Tests for Covid19 prevail among persons between 30 and 59 years of age

The percentage of men and women who did any test for the coronavirus showed no virtual difference: 10.1% and 10.6%, respectively. In terms of age groups, the highest percentage was among persons between 30 and 59 years of age (14.3%), followed by the group between 20 and 29 years (12.1%). Among persons aged 60 years and over, 9.2% made some testing.

The higher the schooling level, the higher the percentage of those who made any test: among persons without education up to incomplete primary school, 5.5% and, among those with higher education or post-graduation, 21.5%.

The higher the class of per capita household income, the higher the percentage of persons who made some testing for COVID19, reaching 20.9% for persons in the highest tenth and 5.4% and 5.5% in the first and second tenths. The percentage of persons who tested positive varied from 19.6% (in the tenth with the highest earnings) to 26.1% (in the second tenth with the lowest earnings).

Considering the type of test of the persons who made any testing, 8.8 million made the SWAB and 25.9% tested positive; 9.8 million made the quick test with blood collected through a fingerstick and 17.3% tested positive; whereas 6.3 million collected blood through an arm vein, being 25.6% with COVID confirmed.

The Federation Unit that registered the highest percentage of tests accomplished was the Federal District (22.2%), followed by Piauí (17.0%) and Goiás (16.0%). On the other hand, Pernambuco recorded the lowest percentage (6.8%), followed by Acre (6.9%) and Minas Gerais (7.8%).

Chronic diseases surveyed hit 46.7 million persons

In September, Brazil counted with 46.7 million persons with some of the chronic diseases surveyed. which corresponded to 22.1% of the population, being high blood pressure the most frequent (13.1%). The other prevalence were: asthma or bronchitis or emphysema (5.3%); diabetes (5.2%); depression (2.8%); heart diseases (2.5%) and cancer (1.0%). The percentage of persons with some of the chronic diseases who tested positive was 3.0%.

16.3% of persons remained strictly isolated at home

Among the 211.4 million residents, 6.4 million (3%) did not make any restriction measure in September; 84.1 million (39.8%) reduced the contacts, but continued leaving home; 85.3 million (40.3%) stayed at home and only left in case of basic needs; and 34.5 million (16.3%) remained strictly isolated.

The North Region posted the highest percentage of persons who did not make any restriction. Compared with August, persons who remained strictly isolated reduced by 3.8 p.p. and those who reduced contacts increased 4.3 p.p., but continued leaving home.

Women registered higher percentages than men in terms of restrictive isolation measures. Concerning the age groups, restriction was higher among those up to 13 years of age (44.3%). The younger and more advanced age ranges dropped the most in the proportion of those who remained strictly isolated in relation to the previous month, 8.1 p.p. and 4.8 p.p., respectively.

Percentage of persons with any symptom of flu-like syndrome remains falling

In September, 9.2 million persons (4.4% of the population) showed at least one of the symptoms of flu-like syndrome surveyed. In May, they were 11.4% of the population, in June, 7.3%, in July, 6.5% and, in August, 5.7%.

The percentages of persons with any symptom of flu-like syndrome were very similar among the regions: the South recorded the highest percentage (4.9% or 1.5 million persons) and the Southeast, the lowest one (4.1% or 3.7 million persons with any symptom).

Among the persons who showed any of the symptoms of flu-like syndrome surveyed, 56.7% were women, 47.5% aged between 30 and 59 years, 55.7% self-declared as black or brown and 37.6% had no education or incomplete primary school.

In September, nearly 24.1% (or 2.2 million) of the persons who showed any of the symptoms surveyed looked for care in health establishments.

Black and brown persons are the majority among those who were hospitalized

Among the persons who looked for care in hospitals in September, 11.8% (98 thousand, 125 thousand in August) of those with any of the symptoms surveyed and 15.9% (40 thousand, 52 thousand in August) of those who showed combined symptoms remained hospitalized.

Black and brown persons were those who mostly remained hospitalized: 59.5% among those with any symptom and 66.6% among those with combined symptoms.

In May, June and July, most of the persons who remained hospitalized were men. In August, this profile reversed and women were those who mostly need to remain hospitalized. In September, the distribution of the hospitalized persons by sex was quite similar: among the persons with any symptom, 49.5% were women, and among those with any combined symptoms, 51.3% were women.

In the North, 34.6% of persons who attended school do not access activities

In September, 46.1 million persons aged between 6 and 29 years attended school or university, which represented 59.8% of the population within this age range. Among those who attended school, 61% were in the primary level, 21%, in the secondary level and 18%, in higher education. Concerning the school activities, 84.4% had activities, 14.5% did not have and 1.1% did not have because they were on vacation. Nearly 6.7 million students did not have activities and 39 million had activities.

In the North Region, 34.6% of children, teenagers and youngsters who attended school did not access school activities. In the South, Southeast and Central-West, these percentages were quite lower: 5%, 9.4% and 7.5%, respectively.

At the primary school level, 12.8% of the persons did not have school activities; in the secondary school, 17.4%; and, in higher education, 16.8%. In the North Region, 31.6% of children in primary school and 42.3% in secondary school did not have school activities to carry out during September. On the other hand, 3.1% of children in primary school and 4.9% of those in secondary school did not have school activities in the South.

Among the persons who lived in households with per capita earnings of up to 1/2 minimum wages, 19.5% did not have school activities; among the households with per capita earnings of 4 or more minimum wages, the percentage was 5%.

Highest rate of loan refusal is in Central-West Region

In nearly 5.4 million (7.9%) of the 68.7 million households in Brazil, a resident requested a loan, being that in 4.6 million (6.7%), the request was accepted and, in 805 thousand (1.2%), the loan was not granted. Compared with August, the percentage of households in which a resident requested loans (0.8 p.p.) increased, followed by an increase in the proportion of households in which the loan request was accepted (0.7 p.p.).

The highest refusal of loans was in the Central-West Region, nearly 18.8% of the households in which someone required such loan, surpassing the North Region, which had a higher proportion of loans refused in the previous months. The highest search for loans (8.9%) was also in the Central-West Region, surpassing the South Region, which had a higher search rate for loans in the previous months. Nevertheless, the South remained with the lowest rate of loan refusal (11.1%).

Unemployed population hits 13.5 million persons

In September 2020, PNAD COVID19 estimated the employed population in Brazil at 82.9 million persons, an increase of 1.0% over August, though still accruing a reduction of 1.7% over May.

The unemployed population, which was 10.1 million in the beginning of the survey, changed to 12.9 million in August and now to 13.5 million persons (an increase of 4.3% in the month and of 33.1% since the beginning of the survey). The South Region was the only one to show a drop in the unemployed population (-1.4%). The Northeast (10.6%) and North (6.4%) registered the highest changes.

According to the PNAD COVID results, the unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage points between August and September in Brazil, changing from 13.6% to 14.0% and hitting its highest level in the time series of the monthly PNAD Covid19. The rate in September was higher than in August in the North, Northeast and Southeast regions, and dropped in the South and Central-West regions. The values of the unemployment rates in September were, in descending order: Northeast (16.9%), North (14.8%), Southeast (14.2%), Central-West (12.1%), and South (9.8%).

The unemployment rate among women was 16.9%, higher than among men (11.8%). The difference was also recorded in all the Major Regions. By color or race, the rate was higher among black or brown persons in Brazil and in all the Major Regions (16.1%, it increased 0.7 p.p. over August) than among white persons (11.5%, remaining stable). In terms of age group, the younger posted higher unemployment rates (23.6% for those between 14 and 29 years of age) and, in terms of schooling level, those with complete higher education or post-graduation registered the lowest rates (6.6%).

Workforce grows 1.4%

The workforce rose from 95.1 million in August to 96.4 million in September (an increase of 1.4%).

The contingent of persons out of the workforce changed from 75.2 million in Augusts to 74.1 million persons in September, which corresponded to a reduction of 1.5%. Of this total, 35.2% (26.1 million) would like to work, but did not look for a job and 21.6% (16 million) did not look for a job due to the pandemic or to the lack of work in their localities, yet they would like to work.

In the beginning of the survey, in May, 70.2% of the persons who, although they would like to work, did not do that mainly due to the pandemic or to the lack of work in their localities. This percentage has been falling month after month: in August, 64.4% of the persons who would like to work, but did not do that due to the pandemic or to the lack of work in their localities, and, now in September, this proportion dropped to 61.3%.

The employment-population ratio increased from 48.2% in August to 48.6% in September. The slight increase in the estimates reached all the regions. Once again, the Northeast and North recorded the lowest levels, 40.1% and 46.1%, respectively. Since the beginning of the survey, these regions have less than half of the persons at working age employed in the labor market.

Distancing from work due to social distancing remains dropping

Of the 82.9 million persons employed in September, 5.4 million were away from the jobs they had in the reference week, of which 3.0 million were away due to social distancing, representing, respectively, drops of 19.7% and 27.6% in relation to the total number of persons away from work reported in August. These indicators have been falling since the beginning of the pandemic, as the isolation was decreasing, and they already accrued drops of 71.7% and 80.9%, respectively.

The reduction in the distancing from work due to the pandemic could also be checked through the reduction in the proportion of persons away from work due to this reason in the total number of employed persons, which changed from 5.0% to 3.6% between August and September. In May, this percentage had been 18.6%.

In September, the North Region remained with the highest percentage (4.7%) of persons away from work due to social distancing. In the Northeast, the proportion was 4.2%. It was followed by the Southeast and Central-West (3.4%) and the South was the less affected (2.9%). The proportion of persons who were away from their jobs due to social distancing reduced between August and September in all the Major Regions, following the trend reported since May.

Among the Federation Units, Acre registered the highest proportion of the employed population who was away from their jobs due to social distancing (9.8%). In all the Federation Units, the percentage of employed persons away from work due to social distancing was lower than that recorded in August.

The group of persons aged 60 years and over remained as the highest proportion of persons away from work due to the pandemic, maintaining this pattern since May. In August, 10.7% of the employed persons aged 60 years and over were away from work. In September, the proportion reduced to 8.7%. This reduction was reported in all the other groups. In September, 5.2% of the employed women were away from work due to social distancing (in August, this percentage was 7.1%), whereas this percentage for men stayed at 2.5% in September (3.6% in August).

The group of the activity of Agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing and aquaculture remained posting the lowest percentage of persons away from work (1.1%), whereas the groups of Public administration, defense and social security, education and health (7.9%), Other services (4.8%), Domestic services (4.4%)  registered the highest proportion of persons away from work. All the groups recorded a reduction in the proportion of persons away from work due to social distancing, highlighted by the sector of Other services (reduction of 2.8 p.p.).

In Brazil, self-employed workers and employers posted the lowest percentage of persons away from work due to the pandemic (both with 1.9%), followed by those employed in the private sector without a formal contract (2.8%) and those employed in the private sector with a formal contract (3.2%). They were followed by domestic workers (4.2% among those without a formal contract and 4.7% among those with a formal contract), employees of the public sector with a formal contract (8.2%), military and statutory servants (9.1%) and, lastly, employees of the public sector without a formal contract (9.6%). The proportion of persons away from work in all the categories of employment type reduced in relation to August.

1.1 million persons away from work were unpaid

Among the 5.4 million employed persons who were away from the jobs they had in the reference week in Brazil, nearly 1.1 million persons (19.8%) were unpaid. This percentage was 23.7% in August and it has been consistently falling along the pandemic. The Southeast Region registered the lowest percentage, 17.6%, and the North Region, the highest percentage (24.1%). When compared with August, the percentage of persons in this condition reduced in all the regions.

Number of persons working remotely remains stable

In September, 77.6 million persons (93.5% of those employed) were not away from the jobs they had (in August, they were 91.9%). Among those not away from work, some were working remotely, representing 10.4% of the employed population who was not away from work (8.1 million persons).

The number of persons working remotely slightly reduced along the entire survey: 8.7 million persons in May and June; 8.4 million in July and August; and 8.1 million in September. The North posted the lowest percentage of employed persons working remotely (4.3%) and the Southeast, the highest percentage (13.5%).

The percentage of women who worked remotely was 14.7% higher than that of men (7.5%). The age groups did not show much gap between each other. Persons aged 60 years and over slightly stood out: 8.6% for persons aged between 14 and 29 years; 11.3% between 30 and 49 years; 9.9% between 50 and 59 years and 11.5% for persons aged 60 years and over.

The percentages were very low among the persons without education up to incomplete primary school (0.4%) and those with complete primary school up to incomplete secondary school (1.0%). Among the persons with complete higher education or post-graduation, 32.3% were working remotely. The relation between schooling level and remote work was noticed in all the regions, highlighted by the Southeast, where 37.5% of the persons with complete higher education or post-graduation were in this condition. However, the proportion of persons working remotely decreased in all the groups between May and September.

Informality grows in relation to August

The contingent of informal workers stayed at 28.3 million persons in September or 34.2% of the total number of employed persons. It represented an increase of 1.7% in the number of informal persons over August and an increase of 0.3 p.p. in the informality rate.

Number of weekly hours worked remains increasing in all regions

The number of hours effectively worked by employed persons grew once again in all the regions, reflecting the upturn of the activities. The average number of usual hours was of 40.1 hours per week and those that were effectively worked in the reference week was, on average, 35.1 hours.

The regions did not show a significant gap in terms of the difference between usual and effective hours, being the biggest difference registered in the Northeast Region (5.4 hours of difference) and the smallest one recorded in the Central-West Region (4.5 hours of difference).

Women recorded a difference of 6.0 hours between the usual and effective weekly hours from all jobs; for men, the difference was of 4.2 hours.

In September, 19.6% of the employed persons in Brazil, who were not away from the jobs they had, effectively worked less hours than the usual ones (15.2 million persons). Nevertheless, the number of hours effectively worked was bigger than the usual hours for 3.1 million persons, which corresponded to 4.0% of the employed persons not away from work. Among the Major Regions, this percentage varied from 3.3% in the South and North to 4.6% in the Southeast.

Southeast and South have the biggest differences between the proportions of effective and usual earnings from work

In September, the usual earnings from all jobs stayed, on average, at R$2,378 for Brazil, and the effective one at R$2,168, i.e., the effective earnings represented 91.2% of that usually earned (in August, it corresponded to 89.7%). The Southeast and South regions showed the biggest differences in the proportion between the effective and usual earnings, 90.3% and 91.0%, respectively, below the national average.

The average real usual wage bill remained virtually stable, retreating 0.05% and changing from R$193.9 billion in August to R$193.8 billion in September. The real effective wage bill rose 1.7%, changing from R$173.9 billion in August to R$176.7 billion in September.

Considering the employment type in the main job in the reference week, self-employed workers and employers showed the biggest differences between the usual and effective earnings: 79.3% and 84.7%, respectively.

Per capita household income is the double in households without emergency aid

The per capita average effective real household earnings in Brazil was R$1,320, i.e., 0.7% above the value in August (R$1,311). The North and Northeast regions registered the lowest values, R$918 and R$922, respectively.

In September, the per capita average household earnings of the households where no resident received any aid from the government due to the pandemic (R$1,821) was, on average, more than twice those households where a resident received the aid (R$825). This proportion was maintained in the five Major Regions.

The proportion of households that received any aid related to the pandemic in Brazil changed from 43.9% to 43.6% in September, with an average value of the benefit of R$894 per household. North and Northeast were once again the regions with the highest percentages of households receiving aids: 59.8% and 58.8%, respectively. The Emergency Aid and the government supplementation through the Emergency Program of Maintenance of Employment and Income are among the aids.

Three states of the North Region were among the five ones with the highest percentage of households where one of the residents received an emergency aid: Amapá (68.4%); Maranhão (63.7%); Pará (63.3%); Alagoas (63.1%) and Amazonas (60.9%). They were followed by the other states of the Northeast and North, all of them with more than half of the households receiving emergency aids, except Rondônia (49.5%). The states of the other regions are all below 50% and Rio Grande do Sul (29.3%) and Santa Catarina (24.1%) recorded the lowest proportions.