São Paulo – The number of registered workers (i.e. workers with registration at the government and fringe benefits) grew 2.2% from April 2013 to April 2014, according to the Monthly Employment Survey (PME, in the Portuguese acronym) released this Thursday (23rd) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). In April, 11.7 million people were registered in the private sector, according to the IBGE.
In April, unemployment affected 4.9% of economically active population, a stable percentage in relation to March’s 5% and a decrease of 0.9% in comparison to April 2013, when the PME showed 5.8% of the economically active population were unemployed. Overall, a total of 1.2 million people were unemployed in April.
The survey, conducted in the urban areas of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Salvador and Recife, also shows the average wage dropped 0.6% from March to April this year: from R$ 2,040 (around US$ 922) to R$ 2,028 (or US$ 916.8). However, in relation to April last year, wages rose 2.6%. The survey shows that in April, there were 22.9 million workers (with or without registration). This number remains stable in relation to March.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
