Rio de Janeiro – The income of Brazilian workers averaged at R$ 1,848.40 (US$ 766.56) in July this year, down 0.9% from the prior month’s R$ 1,864.39 (US$ 773.19). This was the fifth consecutive decline in actual average income, which takes inflation into account. The data were culled from the Monthly Employment Survey released this Thursday (22nd) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The 0.9% decline took place despite the fact that the National Consumer Price Index (INPC, in the Portuguese acronym) deflated by 0.13% in July. The actual income represents workers’ purchasing power, i.e. nominal income minus inflation. Just as inflation corrodes purchasing power, deflation has the opposite effect, enabling workers to buy more with the same wage.
Despite the decline from June, actual average income was up 1.5% from July last year. Of the six metropolitan areas surveyed, only Salvador and Belo Horizonte saw a decline in purchasing power from July last year.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
