Thais Leitão           Reporter Agência Brasil

Rio de Janeiro – Unemployment in July, as measured by the Monthly Employment Survey (“Pesquisa Mensal de Emprego – PME”), came in at 6%, which is the lowest for the month of July since the survey began, in March 2002.

July 2011 unemployment was slightly lower in comparison with the previous month and the year-to-year comparison: in June, the PME was 6.2%, and in July 2010, it was 6.9%.

The PME surveys only the six largest metropolitan regions in Brazil (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Salvador, Porto Alegre and Belo Horizonte). According to the government statistical bureau (“IBGE”), in July 2011, the total number of people working in the country’s six principal urban regions totaled 22.5 million, with 1.4 million unemployed; that was some 200,000 fewer unemployed than in July 2010. And some 456,000 more people with jobs than in July 2010.

Another important metric in understanding the Brazilian labor market is the number of workers on-the-books (“com Carteira de Trabalho assinada - registrado”), in light of the fact that there is still a huge informal or shadow economy. The July PME found 10.9 million workers “registrados,” up 1.2%, compared to June, and up 7.1%, compared to July 2010 (which works out to some 726,000 more workers in the formal job market in July 2011 than in July 2010, paying taxes and getting benefits).

The PME also reported that in July average take-home pay for wage earners was R$1,612.90, the highest since 2002, up 4% compared to July 2010.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English
Link - Desemprego fecha julho em 6%, a menor taxa para o mês desde 2002