Rio, February 27, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The unemployment rate rose in January to 11.7%, compared with 10.9% in December, 2003, but it was stable in comparison with January, 2003, when 11.2% of the country's economically active population was unemployed.

These data were released today by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Average real wages grew 1.9% in January, compared with December, but fell 6.2% in comparison with January, 2003.

Among the unemployed, 54.4% were women, 45.6% were men, and 18.6% were looking for their first job. The total number of unemployed was up 6.1% in comparison with December, 2003, and this proved to be the case in almost all areas: Recife (3.9%), Salvador (2.0%), Belo Horizonte (17.6%), Rio de Janeiro (2.0%), and São Paulo (8.1%). Porto Alegre was the only region to show a drop (-5.2%). (DAS)