The unemployment rate in Brazil reached 11.1% in the quarter from January to March. The index was stable compared to the previous period in 2021. This is the lowest index for the quarter ended in March since 2016, when it also stood at 11.1%. The number of unemployed, which totaled 11.9 million people, was also stable. The employed population estimated at 95.3 million dropped 0.5% in the same comparison. Number represents less than 472 thousand people in the job market.
The data are in the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Pnad Contínua), released today (29) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
For the coordinator of Work and Income at IBGE, Adriana Beringuy, the fact that there was no growth in the search for work in the quarter explains the stability of the unemployment rate. According to her, the scenario is different from that recorded in the other quarters ending in March, when, due to seasonality, there was an increase in demand for work.
“If we look at unemployment in retrospect, through the historical series of the survey, we can see that, in the first quarter, this population usually increases due to the dismissals that occurred at the beginning of the year. The quarter ending in March differed from these patterns,” he noted.
Performance
The real average income, which grew 1.5% in relation to the quarter ended in December, was estimated at R$ 2,548. In the coordinator’s view, this increase is important to consider that the indicator had been falling since the second quarter of last year.
“In general, when the participation of formal workers increases, the average income of the employed population tends to increase”, he added. Despite this performance, in relation to the quarter ended in March of last year, the indicator registered a drop of 8.7%. The mass of income was estimated at R$ 237.7 billion, remaining stable in the comparison with the previous quarter and also in the comparison with the same period of the previous year.
own account
The number of self-employed workers in comparison with the last quarter fell by 2.5%. This means that 660 thousand people in this category left the market. According to the IBGE, in this contingent, 475 thousand were workers without CNPJ. According to the researcher, unregistered employees in the private sector were stable, after three quarters of expansion, but the number of self-employed workers retracted after five quarters of increase. “In the quarter ended in March, this drop in self-employment accounted for the reduction in the total employed population.”
Informality
The informality rate was impacted by this reduction and reached 40.1%, after a drop of 0.6 percentage point. The number of informal workers reached 38.2 million, with a drop of 1.9%. The survey pointed out that the participation of self-employed workers without CNPJ in this decline is 64%. In another movement, the number of employers rose 5.7%, representing 222 thousand more people. Much of this number corresponds to formal work. Among these employers, 186 thousand had CNPJ.
signed wallet
According to the survey, there was an increase in the number of employees in the private sector with a formal contract, which reached 34.9 million people. In comparison with the quarter ended in December, it means an increase of 1.1%, or 380 thousand people.
“This category grew for the fourth consecutive quarter, but at a lower percentage than that observed in the quarters of 2021, respectively, second (1.8%), third (4.4%) and fourth (2.9%) quarters. Although the pace of growth has reduced, the expansion of formal employment has contributed to a gradual increase in formal employment”, said Adriana.
sectors
Among the sectors analyzed by the survey, civil construction had a retraction in its number of workers in comparison with the previous quarter. In this period, the fall is 3.4%, or 252 thousand people. According to the IBGE, the other sectors remained stable in this comparison.
“The drop in the number of people employed in construction occurred mainly among self-employed workers and employees without a formal contract, who represent a relevant portion of those employed in this activity. The drop in informality in the quarter can be associated with the reduction of these workers in construction,” he commented.
With the retraction in the number of employed persons, the population outside the workforce increased by 1.4%, representing more than 929 thousand people. In the opposite direction, the potential workforce dropped 6.8% or 610 thousand people. The group brings together people who were not busy or looking for a job in the market, but had the potential to become a workforce. In the same period, 195,000 people left the despondent contingent.
Continuous PNAD
According to the IBGE, the survey is the main instrument for monitoring the country’s workforce. The Continuous PNAD sample per quarter in Brazil corresponds to 211 thousand households surveyed, with about 2 thousand interviewers in 26 states and the Federal District, integrated into the collection network of more than 500 IBGE agencies.
Because of the covid-19 pandemic, the institute adopted the collection of information from the survey by telephone as of March 17, 2020. “In July 2021, there was a return to in-person collection. You can confirm the identity of the interviewer in the site Responding to the IBGE or via the Call Center (0800 721 8181), checking the interviewer’s registration, ID or CPF, data that may be requested by the informant.”
