Brazil unemployed population hit 12 million in October

The unemployment rate measured by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in its National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) was 11.8% in the quarter ended last October. That figure was higher than the 11.6% reported for the quarter ended in July and the 8.9% in the quarter ended in October 2015.

The unemployed population in the quarter ended in October this year reached 12 million people, virtually the same as in the quarter that ended in July 2016, but 32.7% higher than in October 2015 (which means over 3 million more jobseekers).

The employed population was 89.9 million, 0.7% (604,000 people) down from July, and 2.6% (1.3 million people) down from October 2015.

According to the IBGE, the employed population includes people in work in the week before the survey took place, that is, people who worked for an employer, those who had their own business, and those who worked without pay to help their family.

Translated by Mayra Borges