Good morning! Today, we explain what new unemployment data tell us about the near future. The return of federal fuel taxes. And a scandal rocks the Brazilian wine industry.
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Brazil’s job market joy about to wear off
Brazil’s latest unemployment figures brought a lot of positive data, but also some worrying signs. Over the final three months of 2022, the rate of jobless workers receded to 7.9 percent — the lowest since February 2015.
- The annual average unemployment rate ended 2022 at 9.3 percent, also the best since 2015, when the economy fell into what was the worst recession in Brazilian recorded history — until the pandemic came along.
What they are saying. “In two years, unemployment in the job market dropped by 4.5 percentage points,” said Adriana Beringuy, coordinator of labor and income at the national statistics agency IBGE.
Yes, but … Even if the worst-case scenario of 2020 seems like a thing of the past, the numbers show that challenges remain. The employed population shrunk slightly in the last...