Up to November, 28.6 million persons (13.5% of the population) had made some test to know whether they were infected by the coronavirus (up to October, this figure was 25.7 million persons or 12.1% of the population). Among these persons, 22.7% (or 6.5 million) tested positive in November, against 22.4% (or 5.7 million) in October.

The unemployed population hit 14.0 million persons in November. It was the record in the time series, representing an increase of 2.0% over October and of 38.6% since the beginning of the survey (May). The unemployment rate (14.2%) was a record in the time series, though it had not any statistically-significant change over October (14.1%).

The employed population (84.7 million in November) rose 0.6% in relation to October and, for the first time since the beginning of the survey, increased (0.3%) over May (84.4 million persons).

The workforce hit 98.7 million in November, a rise of 0.8% over October and of 4.4% over May.

The number of persons out of the workforce hit 72.0 million in November, retreating 0.9% over October and 4.4% over May.

Amapá registered the highest proportion (6.9%) of employed persons away from work due to social distancing. Eleven Federation Units recorded drops in the percentage of employed persons away from work due to social distancing over October. The others remained stable.

Among 4.4 million workers away from work in the reference week, 879 thousand (or 19.8%) were unpaid.

The difference between the number of hours usually (40h) and effectively worked (36.1h) was decreasing.

The North and Northeast were, once again, the regions with the highest percentages of households receiving the emergency aid: 57.0% and 55.3%, respectively.

The five states with the highest percentages were Amapá (70.1%), Pará (61.1%), Maranhão (60.2%), Alagoas (58.4%) and Piauí (57.5%).

Tests for Covid19 prevail among persons aged between 30 and 59 years

The percentage of men and women who tested, 13.2% and 13.8%, respectively, did not register any virtual difference. By age group, the highest percentage was among persons aged between 30 and 59 years (18.2%). The highest the schooling level, the highest the percentage of persons who tested: while persons without education to incomplete primary school recorded 7.3%, those with complete higher education or post-graduation recorded 28.0%.

The highest the class of per capita household income, the highest the percentage of persons who tested for COVID19, reaching 27.2% for persons at the highest tenth and 6.8% for persons at the first tenth. The percentage of persons who tested positive ranged from 20.5% (at the 10th tenth) to 25.4% (at the 4th tenth).

Of the persons who tested, 12.7 million used the SWAB and 26.6% tested positive; 12.4 million collected blood through a finger prick and 17.2% tested positive; 8.0 million collected blood through a vein in the arm and 25.5% tested positive. The highest percentages of tests were in the Federal District (25.6%), Goiás (20.7%) and Piauí (20.6%). The lowest ones were in Acre (8.8%), Pernambuco (9.3%) and Alagoas (10.3%).

Chronic diseases surveyed hit 22.5% of the population

In November, 47.7 million persons had some of the chronic diseases surveyed, which corresponded to 22.5% of the population, being high blood pressure the most frequent (13.3%). The other prevalences were: asthma or bronchitis or emphysema (5.5%); diabetes (5.3%); depression (2.9%); heart diseases (2.6%) and cancer (1.0%). The percentage of persons with some of the chronic diseases who tested positive (3.9%) had been increasing since July (1.6%).

Proportion of persons who remained strictly isolated at home falls to 11.1%

Among the 211.7 million residents, 10.2 million (4.8%) did not make any restriction in November, 97.9 million (46.2%) reduced contacts, but continued to leave home, 79.3 million (37.5%) stayed at home and only left due to a basic need and 23.5 million (11.1%) remained strictly isolated.

In relation to October, persons who reduced contacts increased 1.9 p.p., though they continued to leave home in detriment of the categories with more restrictive isolation

The North Region (8.8%) showed the highest percentage of persons who did not make any restriction, and the Northeast, the highest percentage of persons who remained strictly isolated (12.8%).

Women registered higher percentages (12.0%) than men (10.2%) in more restrictive measures of isolation. Concerning the age groups, the restriction was bigger among those up to 13 years of age (30.6%). Even so, people who remained strictly isolated within this age group reduced by 3.9 p.p. in relation to the previous month.

Percentage of persons with some symptoms of flu-like syndrome increases

In November, 8.0 million persons (3.8% of the population) showed some of the symptoms of flu-like syndromes surveyed. This indicator increased for the first time since the beginning of the survey (in May, 11.4% of the population had some symptoms, 7.3% in June, 6.5% in July, 5.7% in August, 4.4% in September and 3.7% in October).

In terms of the summary indicator, 988 thousand persons (0.5% of the population) showed coupled symptoms of flu-like syndrome that could be associated to COVID-19 (loss of smell or taste or fever, cough and breathing difficulties or fever, cough and chest pain). In October, they were 855 thousand persons (0.4% of the population).

The percentages of persons with some symptoms of flu-like syndrome were quite similar among the Major Regions, having the North and Central-West regions showed the lowest percentage (3.5%, the equivalent to 642 thousand and 572 thousand persons, respectively) and the South Region, the highest one (4.1%, the equivalent to 1.2 million persons with some symptoms). Compared with October, the percentage of persons who showed some of the symptoms in the Southeast and South increased.

Of the total, 56.9% were women, 45.6% were aged between 30 and 59 years, 54.4% declared themselves as black or brown persons and 37.6% had no education or incomplete primary school. The share of black or brown persons among those with some symptoms sharply decreased between October and November, reaching its lowest level (54.4%) since the beginning of the survey. It should be highlighted the share of persons with complete higher education or post-graduation among those with some symptoms, the highest one since the beginning of the survey (16.4%).

Nearly 28.8% (or 2.3 million) of persons who showed some of the symptoms surveyed looked for care in health facilities.

For the first time ever, white persons are the majority among those who had some symptoms and were hospitalized

Among the persons who looked for care in hospitals in November, 11.0% of those who showed some of the symptoms surveyed remained hospitalized (104 thousand), as well as 14.4% (42 thousand) of those who showed coupled symptoms (they were 71 thousand in July, 52 thousand in August, 40 thousand in September and 44 thousand in October).

The distribution of persons hospitalized in November, by sex, among those with some symptoms, pointed out a slight prevalence of women (51.2%). However, men prevailed (55.0%) among those who showed coupled symptoms.

For the first time since the beginning of the survey, white persons (52.0%) were the majority among those who showed some symptoms and remained hospitalized. On the other hand, black or brown persons (56.1%) remained the majority among those with coupled symptoms who remained hospitalized.

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

In November, 46.3 million persons aged between 6 and 29 years attended school, representing 60.0% of the population within this age range. Concerning the availability of school activities for persons who were not having regular classes, 87.5% had activities, 11.7% did not have them and 0.8% were on vacation. The contingent of persons who attended school but did not have activities was of 5.3 million, and that of persons who had activities, of 39.5 million.

Among children, teenagers and youngsters who attended school in the North and did not have regular classes, 25.3% had no access to school activities. These percentages were quite lower in the South, Southeast and Central-West: 3.8%, 7.9% and 6%, respectively.

In the primary school, 10.8% of the persons did not have school activities; 15.2% in the secondary school; and 10.6% in the higher education. The regional differences were big. For all the school levels in the North Region, the percentage of persons who did not have activities was higher than 20%. These percentages were lower than 10% in the South, Southeast and Central-West regions.

Persons belonging to the lower classes of per capita household income in minimum wages had higher percentages of children and teenagers without activities. Among the persons who lived in households with per capita income up to 1/2 minimum wages, 16.6% did not have any school activity; among the households with per capita household income of 4 or more minimum wages, the percentage was 3.9%.

Highest rate of loan refusals is in the North Region

Of the total of 68.6 million households, in nearly 6.4 million (9.3%) some resident requested a loan, being that the request was granted in 5.6 million (8.1%) and refused in 776 thousand (1.1%). Compared with October, the percentage of households that requested a loan increased 0.6 p.p.

The North Region recorded the highest rate of loan refusals, nearly 15.1% of the households had their requests refused. The South Region posted the biggest search for loans (10.2%) and also the lowest rate of loan refusals (9.0%).

Unemployed population reaches 14.0 million persons

The employed population added up to 84.7 million in November, an increase of 0.6% over October (84.1 million persons) and, for the first time since the beginning of the survey, an increase of 0.3% over May (84.4 million persons).

The unemployed population was of 14.0 million persons in November against 10.1 million persons in May and 13.8 million in October, an increase of 38.6% and 2.0%, respectively. The Northeast was the only region to show a significant increase in the number of unemployed persons (+4.7%). The other regions stood statistically stable.

The unemployment rate remained statistically stable, changing from 14.1% in October to 14.2% in November. The November´s rate was statistically higher than in October only in the Northeast (it changed from 17.3% to 17.8%), remaining statistically stable in the other regions: North (15.4%), Southeast (14.3%), Central-West (12.2%), and South (9.3%).

The unemployment rate among women was 17.2%, higher than that among men (11.9%). By color or race, the rate was higher among black or brown persons (16.5%) than among white persons (11.5%). It represented an increase of 0.3 percentage points in the rate among blacks and browns, whereas the rate among white persons remained unchanged for the fourth month in a row. By age group, the youngsters showed higher unemployment rates (24.2% for those aged between 14 and 29 years) and, by schooling level, those with complete higher education or post-graduation registered the lowest rates (6.7%).

Workforce grows 0.8%

The workforce (98.7 million) grew 0.8% in November. In contrast, the contingent of persons out of the workforce (72.0 million) dropped 0.9%. Of this total, 33.4% (24.1 million) would like to work, but did not look for a job and 18.9% (13.7 million) did not look for a job due either to the pandemic or lack of work in their localities, but would like to work.

In May, 70.2% of persons did not look for a job due either to the pandemic or lack of work in the locality where they lived, though they wanted to work. This percentage had been dropping month after month: in October, 58.4% of the persons who would like to work did not that alleging that the major reason was related either to the pandemic or to the lack of work in their localities and, in November, this proportion dropped to 56.7%.

The employment-population ratio was 49.7% in May, changed to 49.3% in October and reached 49.6% in November. Compared with October, this indicator recorded a slight increase in all the regions.

Once again, the Northeast and North regions showed the lowest employment-population ratios: 41.2% and 46.5%, respectively. Since the beginning of the survey, these regions had less than half of the persons at working age employed in the labor market.

Distance from work due to social distancing remains dropping

Of the 84.7 million employed persons, 4.4 million were away from work and 2.1 million of them were away due to social distancing, representing drops of 5.4% and 10.9% over October, respectively. These indicators accrued drops of 76.6% and 86.7%, respectively, since the beginning of the pandemic.

The reduction in the number of persons away from work due to the pandemic could also be checked through the reduction of the proportion of persons away for this reason in the total number of employed persons, which changed from 2.8% to 2.5% between October and November. This percentage was 18.6% in May.

Among the Federation Units, Amapá was the one that posted the highest proportion of the employed population away from work due to social distancing, 6.9%.

The persons aged 60 years and over were the majority among those away from work due to the pandemic, a pattern noticed since the beginning of the survey, in May.  The index was 7.2% in October. In November, the proportion reduced to 6.6%, though the percentage of distancing due to this reason dropped in all the age groups.

In November, 3.6% of the employed women were away from work due to social distancing (in October, this percentage was 4.1%), whereas this percentage stayed at 1.7% in November for men (1.8% in October).

Concerning the activity groups, that of Agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing and aquaculture remained registering the lowest percentage of persons away from work (0.6%), whereas the groups of Public administration, defense and social security, education and health (5.8%), Domestic services (2.8%) and Other services (2.8%) were those that recorded the highest proportion of persons away from work. In all the groups, the proportion of persons away from their jobs due to social distancing reduced month after month.

The employers (1.1%) and self-employed workers (1.2%) recorded the lowest percentage of persons away from work due to the pandemic, followed by those employed in the private sector without a formal contract (1.7%), employees of the private sector with a formal contract (2.1%), domestic workers (2.6% among those without a formal contract and 3.3% among those with a formal contract), employees of the public sector with a formal contract (6%), employees of the public sector without a formal contract (6.6%) and, lastly, the military and statutory servants (7%). Compared with October, the proportion of persons away from work in all the categories reduced.

Number of unpaid persons away from work falls to 879 thousand

Nearly 879 thousand persons were unpaid, which represented 19.8% of the total number of persons away from work. In October, this percentage was 19.2% and it had been consistently falling along the pandemic. The South Region recorded the lowest percentage (16.4%) and the North, the highest one (27.7%).

Number of persons working remotely remains reducing

In November, 94.8% of the employed population were not away from their jobs, against 94.4% in October. Among those not away from work, those who were working remotely (home office) represented 9.1% (7.3 million persons) of the employed population that was not away from work. In October, they were 9.6% (7.6 million persons).

The North Region posted the lowest percentage of employed persons working remotely (3.9%) and the Southeast, the highest one (11.8%).

The percentage of women who worked remotely was 12.9%, higher than that of men (6.5%). The age groups did not show much gaps, with a slight advantage for persons aged 60 years and over (7.4% for persons aged between 14 and 29 years; 9.9% between 30 and 49 years; 8.9% between 50 and 59 years and 10.2% for persons aged 60 years and over).

The percentages were quite low among the persons without education or with incomplete primary school and among those with complete primary school or with incomplete secondary school (0.3% and 0.9%, respectively). Nevertheless, 28.7% of the persons with complete higher education or post-graduation were working remotely. The percentage stayed at 4.7% for those with complete secondary school or with incomplete higher education.

Informality remains growing

The number of informal workers was of 29.2 million persons in November, the equivalent to 34.5% of the total employed persons, representing an increase of 0.6% over October, whereas the informality rate remained stable.

Number of weekly hours effectively worked remains growing

The number of hours effectively worked by persons who were employed increased from 35.7 hours to 36.1 hours between October and November. The number of hours usually worked remained at 40 hours.

In November, women showed a difference between the usual and effective weekly hours in all jobs of 4.7 hours; for men, the difference was 3.4 hours.

In Brazil, 16.8% of the employed persons not away from work effectively worked less hours than the usual ones (13.5 million persons). For 3.2 million persons, however, the number of hours effectively worked was bigger than the usual hours, which corresponded to 4.0% of the employed persons not away from work.

Southeast and South show the biggest differences between effective and usual earnings

In November, usual earnings from all jobs stayed, on average, at R$2,334 for Brazil, and effective earnings at R$2,205, i.e., effective earnings represented 94.5% of that usually earned; in October, it corresponded to 93.6%. The biggest differences were in the Southeast and South regions: 94.1% and 94.3%, respectively. Usual earnings dropped 1.4% between October and November, whereas effective earnings dropped 0.4%, in real terms.

The average real wage bill usually earned changed from R$195.7 billion in October to R$194.2 billion in November. Considering the effective earnings, the wage bill increased 0.2% in real terms (changing from R$183.1 billion in October to R$183.5 billion in November).

Self-employed workers and employers registered the biggest differences between usual and effective earnings: 86.1% and 91.3%, respectively.

Per capita income is more than twice in the households without emergency aid

In November, the per capita average real household earnings effectively received in Brazil was of R$1,298 or 1.8% below October in real terms (R$1,321). The North and Northeast recorded the lowest values: R$864 and R$865, respectively.

The proportion of households that received some aid related to the pandemic in Brazil changed from 42.2% in October to 41.0% in November, with an average value of R$558 per household. The North and Northeast were once again the regions with the highest percentages of households receiving the aid: 57.0% and 55.3%, respectively. The Emergency Aid and the supplementation of the Government through the Emergency Program of Maintenance of Employment and Income are among the aids.

Altogether, 19 Federation Units registered a drop in the percentage of households in which one of the residents received an emergency aid between October and November. The other eight states remained stable. The highest indexes were in Amapá (70.1%), Pará (61.1%), Maranhão (60.2%), Alagoas (58.4%) and Piauí (57.5%). The states with the lowest proportions were Santa Catarina (22.0%), Rio Grande do Sul (27.0%) and the Federal District (28.9%).