Rio de Janeiro – The unemployment level in the six largest metropolitan regions of Brazil was 4.7% in December of last year. According to figures issued by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) this Thursday (26th), this was the lowest rate in the entire historical series of the Monthly Employment Survey, ,which started in March 2002. In November 2011, the rate was 5.2% and in December 2010, it was 5.3%.
In the whole of 2011, unemployment in Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Porto Alegre averaged at 6%, the lowest annual average since 2003, when the average was 12.4%.
The survey shows that in December 2011, the number of unemployed people was 119,000 lower, representing a reduction of 9.5% compared with November, and of 9.4% compared with December 2010. In the whole of 2011, the average number of unemployed persons was 1.4 million, as against 2.6 million in 2003.
The employed population, at 22.7 million in December, remained stable compared with November and showed a slight increase, at 1.3%, over December 2010.
The number of registered workers in the private sector did not change from November to December either, but grew by 6% compared with December 2010, meaning that 638,000 new jobs were filled over a one-year period.
“The average results for 2011 were a record with regard to the ratio of registered workers (10.9 million) as against the total number of workers: 48.5%, as against 46.3% in 2010 and 39.7% in 2003,” the IBGE informed.
In December 2011, the actual average worker income was 1,650 Brazilian reals (US$ 937.6 at current exchange rates). According to the IBGE, it was the highest figure for the month of November since 2002, representing a 1.1% increase compared with November and a 2.6% increase over December 2010.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
