Rio de Janeiro – The unemployment rate stood at 5% in March in Brazil, the lowest rate for the month since records started being kept in 2002. The information was released in the Monthly Employment Survey issued this Thursday (17th) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The rate was 5.1% in February and 5.7% in March 2013.
In March, 1.2 million people were unemployed in Brazil, virtually the same as in February, but down 11.6% from March 2013. The number of employed persons was 22.9 million, also near-stable in relation to February this year and March last year.
The economic sectors in which jobs creation increased in March from February were construction (1%) and services provided to businesses (2.6%). March-on-March, the number of new openings increased in six out of seven sectors surveyed, with the exception of industry, down 0.5%. The highlights were construction (6.6%) and retail (6%).
The number of registered workers in the private sector remained practically the same as in February: 11.7 million, but was up 2% from March last year.
The actual average income of occupied persons was R$ 2,026.60 (US$ 904.97 at current exchange rates) in March, is down 0.3% from February and up 3% from March last year.
The Monthly Employment Survey is conducted in the metropolitan areas of Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Porto Alegre.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
