Unemployment in Brazil rose in January to 14.2%

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Unemployment in Brazil rose to 14.2% in November-January, at the beginning of the second wave of the pandemic in the country, after four successive drops that brought the rate to 13.9% in October-December, according to official data published on Wednesday, March 31st.

In November-January 2020, before the first case of coronavirus was registered in Brazil, the unemployment rate in Latin America’s largest economy stood at 11.2%, three percentage points less than at present.

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which conducts its surveys based on moving quarters, the number of people looking for work reached 14.2 million, 2.3 million more than a year ago.

IBGE explains that the last period analyzed also reflects the positive influence of the end of the year, since “November and December were months of important growths” in occupation.

The Brazilian economy contracted 4.1% last year, much less than expected at the beginning of the pandemic, thanks to the emergency aid paid to almost a third of the population to cope with the containment measures’ effects.

This aid, however, ran out in January, when the disease increased again until it got out of control.

The country records more than 317,000 covid-19 deaths, with an average over seven days of more than 2,700, almost four times as many as in January.

Source: Isto É Dinheiro

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