On 2017, there was a reduction of the unemployment rate in Brazil. The National Households Survey, applied on a ...
On 2017, there was a reduction of the unemployment rate in Brazil. The National Households Survey, applied on a monthly basis by the IBGE, showed that quarter after quarter, the number of workers looking for a job decreased. During the 1st quarter it was around 13.7%, dropping to 11.8% in the 4th quarter.
However, employment quality is rather controvertible. Informality played a major role in the unemployment decrease of 2017.
On December 2017, the working population was 92.1 million Brazilian, and 37.1% (34.2 million) were informal, which was a larger number than that of formal workers: 33.3 million.
According to the IBGE, it was the first time in history in which the amount of informal workers outnumbered formal workers.
By the end of 2017, the number of formal workers was 33 million, it showed a 2% decrease when compared to the previous. Meanwhile, the total number of informal worker grew 5.7% during the same period of time. Self-employed worker included 23.2 million by the end of 2017, a 4.8% growth when compared to the end of 2016.
According to data published by the Ministry of Labour, the formal market contracted during 2017 for the third year in a row, with the elimination of 20,832 jobs. Since 2015, when dismissals outnumbered recruitments, the Brazilian economy lost 2.87 million formal jobs.
The Institute for Studies on Industrial Development (IEDI) claims that “the economic recovery in 2017, though still insufficient, has not relieved the employment crisis”. Nevertheless, the IEDI adds that difficulties of formal employment recovery is not abnormal, as businessmen tend to wait until there is certain economic recovery to start hiring again. During a first phase, they choose to increase working hours, with additional shifts or overtime. So, it is quite reasonable to expect formal jobs to start growing once again during 2018, if economic recovery prevails.
Despite the drop in the unemployment rate during 2017, last year was the worst year for the Brazilian labour market since 2012, and not just because of informality. With an average rate of 12.7%, unemployment reached its’ highest level in the historical series of the IBGE. Compared to 2014, when the average unemployment rate was at its lowest level (6.8%), there was a 5.9% difference.
From 2016 to 2017, the number of informal workers in the private sector grew 5.5%, which represents 560,000 workers. But, in 2014, the average growth rate was 3.2% (330,000 people). The number of self-employed workers showed an increase of 6.5% during the last three years (1.3 million workers).
Agriculture, manufacture, and construction were the sectors that lost the largest number of workers. During the last three years, the decrease in agriculture was 10.4%, in manufacture 11.5% and in construction, 12.3%.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano
