Brazil’s average annual unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in 2023, according to new data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
It is the lowest rate since hitting 7 percent in 2014, and came in slightly below most market forecasts. Analysts were expecting a greater slowdown in Brazil’s labor market after the post-pandemic hiring boom in 2022.
But more positive than the number itself is the reason behind the results.
“Unlike in 2021 and 2022, when there was a sharp increase in informality, the creation of formal jobs was what pushed the unemployment rate down the most,” Rodolpho Tobler, an economist at the Brazilian Institute of Economics at the think tank Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV-Ibre), tells The Brazilian Report.
This is the most positive aspect of the statistics released on Wednesday, as formal jobs generate greater stability and better conditions for income growth.
The total labor force — which includes formal, informal, and self-employed workers — surpassed the 100 million mark in October and approached 101 million people at the end of 2023, the highest in history and an increase of 3.8 percent from 2022.
In addition, the number of workers with a formal contract rose 5.8 percent over the year to 37.7 million people, another historic record, according to Adriana Beringuy, an IBGE research coordinator.
Formal...
Search
