The unemployment rate (13.7) fell 1.0 percentage points against the quarter ended in April (14.7%) and stood stable against the quarter ended in July 2020 (13.8%).

The unemployed population (14.1 million persons) fell 4.6% ( 676 thousand less persons) against the quarter ended in April 2021 (14.8 million persons) and increased 7.3% (955 thousand  persons) over the same moving quarter of 2020 (13.1 million persons).

The employed population (89.0 million persons) grew 3.6% (3.1 million more  persons) in relation to the previous moving quarter and 8.6% (7.0 million more persons) against the same quarter of 2020. Estimated at 50.2%, the employment-population ratio - percentage of employed persons in the population at working age - grew 1.7 pp against the previous moving quarter (48.5%) and 3.1 pp over the same quarter of 2020 (47.1%).

The composite underutilization rate (28.0%) fell 1.6 pp in relation to the previous quarter (29.7%) and 2.1 pp compared with the same quarter of 2020 (30.1%). The underutilized population (31.7 million persons) dropped 4.7% (1.6 million less persons) over the previous quarter (33.3 million) and 3.6% (1.2 million less persons) in the annual comparison.

The time-related underemployed population (7.7 million persons) was a record in the time series, with rises of 7.2% over the previous quarter (520 thousand more persons) and of 34.0% (2.0 million more persons) against the same quarter of 2020.

The population outside the labor force (74.1 million persons) dropped 2.9% (2.2 million less persons) over the previous quarter and 6.1% (4.8 million less persons) in the annual comparison.

The discouraged population (5.4 million persons) fell 10.0% over the previous quarter (595 thousand less persons) and 7.3% in the year (426 thousand less persons). The percentage of discouraged workers in the labor force or the discouraged (5.0%) fell 0.6 pp over the previous quarter (5.6%) and 0.8 pp in the annual comparison (5.7%).

The number of persons employed with a formal contract in the private sector (excluding domestic workers) was of 30.6 million persons, increasing 3.5% (1.0 million persons) over the previous quarter and 4.2% (1.2 million) against the same quarter of 2020.

The number of persons employed without a formal contract in the private sector (10.3 million persons) increased 6.0% (587 thousand persons) in the quarter and 19.0% (1.5 million persons) in the year.

The number of self-employed workers (25.2 million persons) was a record in the time series, with rises of 4.7% (1.1 million more persons) against the previous quarter and of 17.6% (3.8 million persons) in the annual comparison.

The number of employers with a CNPJ record was the lowest in the time series, with no significant change in the quarter and dropping 7.4% (240 thousand less persons) in the year.

The number of domestic workers (5.3] million) increased 7.7% (381 thousand more persons) over the previous quarter and 16.1% (739 thousand more persons) in the year.

The informality rate was 40.6% of the employed population or 35.6 million informal workers. That rate had been 39.8% in the previous quarter and 37.4% in the same quarter of 2020.

The usual real earnings (R$2,508) fell 2.9% over the previous quarter and 8.8% over the same period of 2020. The usual real wage bill (R$218 billion) remained stable in both comparisons.

Estimated at 103.1 million persons in the moving quarter between May and July 2021, the labor force increased 2.4% (2.4 million more persons) against the previous quarter and 8.4% (8.0 million more persons) in the same quarter of 2021.

The number of employers (3.7 million persons) remained stable in both comparisons.

The group of those employed in the public sector (11.8 million persons), including statutory servants and military – remained stable in both comparisons.

The following activity groups rose, against the previous moving quarter: Agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing and aquaculture (3.2% or more 275 thousand persons), Construction (10.3% or 616 thousand persons), Trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (4.5% or 703 thousand more persons), Transportation, storage and mailing (4.9% or 210 thousand more persons), Lodging and food (9.0%, or 366 thousand more persons) and Domestic services (7.7%, or 385 thousand more persons). The other groups remained stable.

 Composite underutilization rate - Quarters from May to July - Brazil - 2012 to 2021 (%)

Compared with the same moving quarter of 2020, six groups rose in employment: Agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing and aquaculture (11.5% or 944 thousand more persons), General Industry (6.8% or 717 thousand more persons), Construction (23.8% or 1.3 million more persons), Trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (7.9% or 1.2 million persons), Transportation, storage and mailing (7.9%, or 1.2 million persons), Housing and food (7.7% or more 309 thousand persons), Information, communication and Financial, real estate, professional and administrative activities (8.7% or 866 thousand persons) and Domestic services (16.5% or more 765 thousand persons). The other groups did not post any statistically-significant change.

As for the usual real average earnings, against the previous moving quarter, there was no high in any category. There was reduction in the group of Domestic services (2.9%)

Compared with the same quarter of 2020, the following groups reduced: Industry (-12.5%), Construction (-12.3%), Trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (-8.6%), Transportation, storage and mailing (-10.0%), Lodging and food (-13.1%), Public administration, defense, social security, education, human health and social services (-4.9%), Other services (-10.7%) and Domestic services (-8.4%).

Among the employment categories, against the previous quarter, there was decrease in the earnings of Domestic worker (2.9%) and Worker in the public sector (including statutory officials and military servants) (3.1%). In the comparison with the quarter from May to July of 2020, there was no growth in any of the categories.