Unemployment rate in 2022 drops to 9.3%, lowest since 2015 – 02/28/2023 – Market

Brazil’s unemployment rate was estimated at 7.9% in the fourth quarter of 2022, reported this Tuesday (28) the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). Before the release of the result, analysts consulted by the Bloomberg agency projected a rate of 8%.

Unemployment stood at 8.7% in the third quarter of 2022, the previous period of the same historical series of Pnad Contínua (Continuous National Household Sample Survey). In the quarter up to November, which is part of another Pnad series, the indicator was already at 8.1%.

With the new data, the unemployment rate closed 2022 at 9.3% on an annual average. It is the lowest level since 2015.

The number of unemployed, in turn, was estimated at 8.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. The contingent added up to 9.5 million in the third quarter and 8.7 million in the interval that ended in November.

The unemployed population, according to official statistics, is made up of people aged 14 or over who are out of work and are looking for new jobs. Those who do not have a job and are not looking for opportunities do not enter this number.

PNAD portrays both the formal and informal labor market. That is, it ranges from jobs with a formal contract and CNPJ to the popular odd jobs.

After the damage caused by the start of the pandemic, in 2020, the generation of vacancies benefited from vaccination against Covid-19 from 2021. Immunization allowed the return of movement of people and the reopening of businesses, intensified in 2022.

The recovery of work was initially accompanied by a drop in average income, which collapsed with the rise in inflation.

Recently, income has shown signs of improvement with the truce in part of prices and the return of formal employment.

The labor market recovery, however, tends to lose speed in 2023, according to economists. The projection is associated with the effect of high interest rates, which usually slow down economic activity and, consequently, job openings.