Rio, November 21, 2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The economically active population grew 3.2% in a year, through October, as a result of the growth in the number of people working (2.2%) and the number of people looking for work (17.4%). In this period, the average rate of open unemployment (percent of the economically active population that didn't work but looked for work during the period) increased 0.8%.

This information appears in the Monthly Employment Survey, released by the IBGE, which also reveals a significant increase in the number of people working in five of the six regions included in the survey. The greatest increases occurred in Salvador and Rio (3.6%) and the smallest, in São Paulo (1.6%). In the Metropolitan Region of Recife, the index remained practically stable (0.1%). (DAS)