Brazil’s unemployment drops from 8% to 7.7% in third quarter
The fall in Brazil’s unemployment rate—from eight percent in the second quarter to 7.7 percent in the third quarter this year—was mainly driven by the decline in the indicator in São Paulo. In a survey by the statistics bureau IBGE, the index in the state fell from 7.8 to 7.1 percent in the period.
“São Paulo is important given the size of its labor market, which greatly influences the drop at a national level,” researcher Adriana Beringuy noted.
In 23 of the 27 Brazilian states, the rate remained statistically stable. In addition to São Paulo, joblessness plunged sharply in the states of Maranhão (8.8% to 6.7%) and Acre (9.3% to 6.2%). Only in Roraima did the index rise (5.1% to 7.6%).
Gender and education
In a gender-based comparison, unemployment in the third quarter stood at 6.4 percent for men and 9.3 percent for women. In terms of color and race, the rate among whites was 5.9 percent, compared to 9.6 percent among blacks and 8.9 percent among brown people.
Taking education into account, the highest indicator was among people with incomplete high school education (13.5%). For those with incomplete higher education, the rate reached 8.3 percent, more than double the proportion for those with complete higher education (3.5%).
