The Latin American country registered 12.8 million unemployed in the second quarter of the year, a rise of 13.3% and the highest level since May 2017.
The above figures have been reported by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). According to IBGE, unemployment increased in this period by 1.1 percentage points compared to the first quarter (12.2%) and 1.3 percentage points compared to the same stage of 2019 (12%). Specialists say that unemployment was not higher in the period because many people stopped looking for work or were not available to work due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“There is an increase in the potential workforce, of people who, despite not currently looking for a job, would like to have one. When examining at the reasons why they are not looking for work, a large contingent gives reasons related to the pandemic”, said IBGE analyst Adriana Beringuy.
Of the 8.9 million jobs (formal and informal) that were lost in the second quarter of the year (a record figure in the series which started in 2012) 2.1 million correspond to commerce, 1.3 million to the domestic sector and 1,1 million to construction.
The Secretary of Economic Policy of the Ministry of Economy, Adolfo Sachsida, stated that the unemployment rate will increase sharply when the economic reopening is completed, which gradually began in June in states such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. (PL)
(Translated by Mónica del Pilar Uribe Marín) – Photos: Pixabay
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