By October, 25.7 million persons (12.1% of the population) had been tested to find out if they were infected with coronavirus (until September that number was 21.9 million persons or 10.4% of the population). Among these persons, 22.4% (or 5.7 million) tested positive in October, against 22.1% (or 4.8 million) in September.

The unemployed population reached 13.8 million persons in October. It is a record for the series, with an increase of 2.1% compared to September and 35.9% since the beginning of the survey (May). The unemployment rate went from 14.0% to 14.1%, the highest in the series.

The workforce reached 97.9 million in October, up 1.5% compared to September and 3.6% compared to May.

The number of persons outside the workforce reached 72.7 million persons in October, down 1.9% against September and 3.5% against May.

The state of Amapá had the highest proportion (9.2%) of employed persons away from work due to social distancing. In 24 Federation Units there was a drop in the percentage of employed persons away from work due to social distancing, compared to September. There was stability in the others.

Among the 4.7 million workers away from work in the reference week, 900 thousand (or 19.2%) were unpaid.

The difference between the number of usual and actual worked hours is decreasing: the average number of usual hours worked was 40 hours per week, against 35.7 of actual hours.

North and Northeast were, again, the regions with the highest percentage of households receiving emergency aid: 58.4% and 56.9%, respectively. The five states with the highest percentages were Amapá (68.6%); Pará (62.2%); Maranhão (61.4%), Alagoas (60.3%) and Acre (59.6%).

Tests for Covid-19 prevail among persons aged 30 and 59 years old

There was practically no difference in the percentage of men and women who were tested, 11.8% and 12.4%, respectively. By age group, the highest percentage was among those aged 30 to 59 years old (16.5%). The higher the schooling level, the higher the percentage of persons who were tested: 6.6% of uneducated persons to those with incomplete primary school and, among those with a college degree or postgraduation courses, 25.0%.

The higher the range of per capita household income, the higher the percentage of persons who were tested for COVID19, reaching 24.6% for persons in the highest tenth and 6.1% for those in the first tenth. The percentage of persons who tested positive ranged from 19.6% (in the 10th 10%) to 24.7% (in the 2nd 10%).

Considering the type of test, of the persons who got tested, 10.7 million took the SWAB and 26.7% tested positive; 11.4 million did the rapid test with blood collected through the finger prick and 17.3% tested positive; while 7.4 million underwent the blood collection test through the vein in the arm, 25.2% with confirmed COVID. The highest percentage of tests was in the Federal District (23.9%), with Piauí (19.1%) and Goiás (18.9%) coming next. The lowest were in Pernambuco, Acre (7.9%, both) and Minas Gerais (9.3%).

Chronic diseases surveyed affect 22.4% of the population

In October, there were 47.4 million persons with at least one of the chronic diseases surveyed, which corresponded to 22.4% of the population, with hypertension being the most frequent disease, 13.3%. The other highlights were: asthma or bronchitis or emphysema (5.4%); diabetes (5.3%); depression (2.9%); heart disease (2.6%) and cancer (1.0%). The percentage of persons with at least one of the chronic diseases who tested positive was 3.5%, a percentage that has been increasing each month since the beginning of the survey (1.6% in July, 2.5% in August and 3.0% in September).

Number of persons who were strictly isolated at home drops to 12.4%

Among the 211.5 million residents, 9.7 million (4.6%) did not take any restriction measures in October, 93.8 million (44.3%) reduced contact but continued to leave home, 80.7 million (38.2%) stayed at home and only left for basic necessities and 26.3 million (12.4%) were strictly isolated.

In relation to September, there was an increase of 1.6 pp in persons who did not take any measures and 4.6 pp in persons who reduced contact, but continued to leave the house. On the other hand, there was a reduction of 2.2 pp of those who stayed at home and only left for basic needs and 3.9 pp of those who were strictly isolated.

The North region (8.1%) had the highest percentage of persons who were not restricted, and the Northeast, the highest percentage of persons who were strictly isolated (14.7%).

Women recorded higher percentages (13.5%) than men (11.3%) in terms of more restrictive isolation measures. In relation to age groups, the restriction was greater among those up to 13 years of age (34.5%), even so, there was a reduction of 9.9 pp of persons who were strictly isolated in this age group in relation to the previous month.

Percentage of persons with flu-like symptoms continues to fall

In October, 7.8 million persons (or 3.7% of the population) had at least one of the symptoms investigated for influenza syndromes. The index has been decreasing since May (11.4%): June (7.3%), July (6.5%), August (5.7%) and September (4.4%).

The percentages of persons with at least one of the flu-like symptoms were quite similar among the Major Regions, with the North and Northeast Regions having the highest percentage (4.0%, equivalent to 740 thousand and 2.3 million persons, respectively) and the Southeast Region the smallest (3.4%, equivalent to 3.0 million persons with any symptom).

Of the total, 57.4% were women, 46.2% were between 30 and 59 years old, 57.1% declared themselves to be black or brown and 38.8% were uneducated or had incomplete primary school. About 26.7% (or 2.1 million) of the persons who had any of the symptoms surveyed sought care at a health facility.

Women and blacks and browns are the majority among those who were hospitalized

In October, among persons who sought care at hospitals, 14.2% (116,000) of them had at least one of the symptoms surveyed and needed to be hospitalized. This index has been on a downward trend since July, but rose again in October. The same upward trend was observed among those who presented some of the combined symptoms and sought hospital care. In October, 17.1% (44 thousand) had to be hospitalized (71 thousand in July, 52 thousand in August and 40 thousand in September).

With regard to sex, in October, women had a much greater representation than men among those who needed to be hospitalized (there were 53.7% among persons with some symptom and 58.8% among those with a combined symptom). Persons who declared themselves black or brown were the ones who most needed to be hospitalized (56.0%, among those with some symptom and 59.1%, among those with combined symptoms).

In the North, 29.3% of persons attending school do not have access to activities

In October, 46.4 million persons from 6 to 29 years old attended school or university, this total represented 60.1% of the population in this age group. Regarding the availability of school activities to carry out, 84.7% had activities, 13.2% had no activities and 2.1% did not because they were on vacation. The number of persons who attended school but had no activities was 6.1 million, and the number of persons who had activities was 39.3 million.

In the North, 29.3% of children, adolescents and young persons who attended school were without access to school assignments. In the South, Central-West and Southeast these percentages were much lower, 5.1%, 7.4% and 9.2%, respectively.

Considering the level of primary education, 11.8% of persons did not have school activities; in secondary education, 16.7%; and in higher education, 13.9%. The regional differences were great. In the North Region, 27.9% of primary school children and 33.8% of secondary school adolescents had no activities, whereas in higher education the percentage was 28.8%. On the other hand, in the South Region these percentages were 3.5%, 5.1% and 9.5%, respectively. The Central-West and Southeast Regions had percentages closer to those of the South Region, and the Northeast Region obtained higher proportions in relation to these, however, lower in relation to the North.

Persons belonging to the lower classes of per capita household income in minimum wages had higher percentages of children and adolescents without activities. Among persons living in households with per capita income of up to ½ minimum wage, 17.9% did not have school activities, among households with per capita household income of 4 or more minimum wages, the percentage was 5.8%.

Highest rate of refusal of loans is in the North Region

Of the total of 68.7 million households, in approximately 6.0 million (8.7%) at least one of the residents requested a loan, of which to 5.2 million (7.5%) it was granted and in 801 thousand (1.2%), denied. In comparison with the month of September, there was an increase of 0.8 pp in the percentage of households that requested a loan, which is equivalent to an increase of about 533 thousand in the number of households in which a resident requested loans.

The North Region was where there was the highest rate of refusal of loans, about 17.5% of households had their requests denied, surpassing the Central-West Region which had a higher rate of refusal in the previous month. The South Region was where there was the greatest demand for loans (9.7%), surpassing the Central-West Region which had the highest percentage last month. In the Southern Region, it was also where there was the lowest rate of loan refusal, approximately 10.0%.

Unemployed population reaches 13.8 million persons

The employed population totaled 84.1 million in October - an increase of 1.4% in relation to September (82.9 million persons) and a reduction of 0.3% in relation to May (84.4 million persons).

The unemployed population was 13.8 million in October, compared to 10.1 million in May and 13.5 million in September - an increase of 35.9% and 2.1%, respectively.

The unemployment rate went from 14.0% in September to 14.1% in October. During this period, the rate in October increased in the North and Northeast Regions, remained unchanged in the Southeast and Central-West, and fell in the South. The unemployment figures, in decreasing order, in October, were: Northeast (17, 3%), North (15.1%), Southeast (14.2%), Central-West (12.1%), and South (9.4%).

The unemployment rate among women was 17.1%, higher than that of men, 11.7%. By color or race, the rate was higher among persons of black or brown color (16.2%) than for whites (11.5%), this represented an increase of 0.1 percentage points in the rate between blacks and browns while the rate among whites has remained unchanged for the second consecutive month. By age groups, the youngest had the highest unemployment rates (23.7% for those aged 14 to 29 years) and, by level of schooling, those with a college degree or postgraduation courses had the lowest rates (6.8%).

Workforce grows 1.5%

Workforce went from 96.4 million in September to 97.9 million in October, up 1.5%.

The number of persons outside the workforce was 74.1 million in September and increased to 72.7 million in October, a decrease of 1.9%. Of this total, 34.1% (24.8 million) would like to work, but did not seek work and 19.9% ​​(14.5 million) did not seek work due to the pandemic or lack of work in their surroundings, but would like to work.

In May, 70.2% of persons, although they wanted to work, did not do so because of the lack of opportunities in the locality where they lived. This percentage has been falling month by month: in September, 61.3% of the persons who would like to work, but did not search for a job, claimed that the main reason was related to the pandemic or lack of work in their surroundings, and now in October, this proportion has dropped to 58.4%.

The employment-to-population level was 49.7% in May, increased to 48.6% in September and reached 49.3% in October, configuring a “U” trajectory, with its lowest value in July (47.9%). Compared to September, this indicator increased slightly in all regions.

"Furlough" due to social distancing continues to fall

Of the 84.1 million employed, 4.7 million were "on furlough" and 2.3 million of them were away from work due to social distancing, representing falls of 12.7% and 22.0% compared to September, respectively. These indicators have accumulated falls of 75.3% and 85.1%, respectively, since the beginning of the pandemic.

The reduction of "furloughed" workers due to the pandemic could also be seen in the reduced proportion of persons away for this reason in the total of employed persons, which from September to October, went from 3.6% to 2.8%. In May, this percentage was 18.6%.

Among the Federation Units, Amapá was the state with the highest proportion of the employed population that was away from work due to social distancing, 9.2%. There was a drop in this index in 24 Federation Units and stability in the other three.

Being away from work due to the pandemic was a condition that mostly affected persons aged 60 and over in terms of proportion, a pattern that has been observed since the beginning of the survey in May. In September, the index was 8.7%. In October, the proportion decreased to 7.2%, but in all age groups the percentage of furlough for this reason fell.

In October, 4.1% of the employed women were away from work because of social distancing (in September, this percentage was 5.2%), while for men, this percentage was 1.8% in October (2.5% in September).

In relation to groups of activity, Agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing and aquaculture continued to record the lowest percentage of persons off their duties (0.7%), while groups of Public Administration, defense and social security, education and health (6.6%), Domestic services (3.3%) and Other services (3.2%) were those that had the highest proportion of persons away from work. In all groups, there was a reduction, from one month to the next, in the proportion of persons away from work due to social distancing.

Self-employed workers and employers recorded the lowest percentage of persons off-duty due to the pandemic (both with 1.3%), followed by private sector employees without a formal contract (1.8%) and private sector employees with a contract (2.5%), domestic workers were right next (3.3% among those without a contract and 3.4% among those with a contract), followed by public sector employees with a contract (7%), employees in the public sector without a contract (7.7%), and, finally, the military and statutory civil servants (7.9%). Compared to September, there was a reduction in the proportion of persons off duty in all categories.

Number of unpaid persons "on furlough" drops to 900 thousand

Approximately 900 thousand persons were unpaid, representing 19.2% of the total number of persons "on furlough". In September, this percentage was 19.8%, and has been falling consistently throughout the pandemic. The South Region had the lowest percentage, 16.3% and the North, the highest, 26.8%. Compared to September, there was a reduction in the percentage of persons in these conditions in the Northeast, South and Central-West, with stability in the Southeast and an increase in the North.

Number of persons working from home keeps decreasing

In October, 94.4% of the employed population were on duty, against 93.5% in September. Among those on duty, employees working from home (remotely) represented 9.6% (or 7.6 million persons) of the employed population who was on duty. In September, they were 10.4% (or 8.1 million persons).

This was the sharpest decrease in the number of persons working from home: in just one month, the indicator had a reduction of 477 thousand persons, similar to the cumulative drop from May to September (636 thousand persons).

The North region had the lowest percentage of employed persons working from home (4.1%) and the Southeast, the highest (12.4%).

The percentage of women who worked from home was 13.4%, higher than that of men (6.9%). There were no major disparities by age group, with a slight advantage for persons aged 60 and over (7.6% for persons aged 14 to 29; 10.4% for 30 to 49 years old; 9.4% for 50 59 years old and 10.6% for persons aged 60 and over).

For uneducated persons up to those with incomplete primary school and for those with complete primary school up to incomplete secondary education, the percentages were very low (0.4% and 1.0%, respectively), however for persons with a college degree or postgraduation course, 30.0% were working remotely. For those with complete secondary to incomplete higher education the percentage was 4.9%.

Informality keeps growing

The number of informal workers was 29 million persons in October, equivalent to 34.5% of the total employed persons, representing an increase of 2.4% in the number of informal workers in relation to September and an increase of 0.3 pp in informality rate.

Number of weekly hours worked goes on inreasing

There was an increase in the number of hours actually worked for persons who were employed from September to October from 35.1 hours to 35.7 hours. The number of hours usually worked went from 40.1 to 40 hours.

In October, women showed a difference between usual and actual weekly hours of all jobs of 5.1 hours, for men the difference was 3.6 hours.

In Brazil, 17.8% of the employed persons who were on duty had actually worked less hours than usual (14.1 million persons). However, for 3.1 million persons, the number of hours actually worked was greater than the usual hours, which corresponded to 3.9% of the employed population on duty.

Southeast and South have the biggest differences between actual and usual earnings

In October, the usual income of all jobs was, on average, R$ 2,345, for Brazil, and the effective number was R$ 2,194, that is, the number represented 93.6% of the usual received, in September corresponded to 91.2%. In the South and Southeast regions were the biggest differences: 93.0% and 93.2%, respectively. From September to October, there was a 2.2% drop in usual real earnings, but a 0.3% increase in real actual earnings.

The average usual real wage bill went from R$ 195.5 billion in September to R$ 194.0 billion in October. Considering actual earnings, there was an increase in the wage bill of 1.8% in real terms (from R$ 178.3 billion in September to R$ 181.5 billion in October).

Self-employed workers and employers had the biggest differences between the usual and actually earnings, 83.9% and 90.2%, respectively.

Per capita household income is twice as much in households with no emergency aids

The average per capita actual real household earnings (R$), in Brazil, in October, was R$ 1,310, or 1.7% below September in real terms (R$ 1,332). The Northeast and North regions had the lowest values, R$ 877 and R$ 900, respectively.

The proportion of households that received some assistance related to the pandemic in Brazil went from 43.6% in September to 42.2% in October, with an average benefit amount of R$ 688 per household. North and Northeast were again the regions with the highest percentage of households receiving aid: 58.4% and 56.9%, respectively. Among the aids are the Emergency Aid and the complementation of the Government by the Emergency Program for the Maintenance of Employment and Income.

Altogether, 19 Federation Units had a drop in the percentage of households where one of the residents receives emergency aid between September and October. The remaining eight states were stable. The highest rates are in Amapá (68.6%), Pará (62.2%), Maranhão (61.4%), Alagoas (60.3%) and Acre (59.6%). The states with the lowest proportion are Santa Catarina (22.9%), Rio Grande do Sul (28.8%) and the Federal  District (30%).