Unemployment drops to 8.3% in the quarter to May and reaches 8.9 million people

The unemployment rate dropped to 8.3% in the moving quarter through May, according to the Continuous PNAD survey released this Friday (30) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The index is the lowest for the period since 2015, when the percentage was also 8.3%.

According to the National Household Sample Survey, there are 8.9 million unemployed people, a drop of 3% in comparison with the previous quarter and of 15.9% with the same period of last year.

“This decrease in the quarter was more influenced by the drop in the number of people looking for work than by a significant increase in workers. It was less pressure on the job market that caused the reduction in the unemployment rate”, explains Adriana Beringuy, coordinator of household sample surveys.

The number of employed persons was stable in the quarterly comparison and reached 98.4 million persons, with an increase of 0.9% in the year. According to the IBGE, there was a drop in the number of workers in sectors linked to agriculture (-1.9%) and expansion in public administration, education and social services (2.5%).

“In the case of the Public administration, defense, social security, education, human health and social services group, growth was driven by the Education segment and through the insertion of employees without a formal contract”, said Adriana.

The Continuous PNAD also revealed a drop in the discouraged population, which stood at 3.7 million people, -6.2% in comparison with the previous quarter and 14.3% with the same period of last year.

The population outside the labor force stood at 67.1 million people, an increase of 0.6% in the quarterly comparison, which represents 382 thousand more people. In the annual comparison, the growth was 3.6%, an increase of 2.3 million people.

The survey also showed that the usual real income was stable at R$ 2.9 thousand compared to the previous quarter, and 6.6% higher in the annual comparison.