Brasília, 4/23/2004 (Agência Brasil) - Minister of Finance, Antonio Palocci, commenting on a report on unemployment by the union-linked Statistical and Socio-Economic Study Department (Dieese), declared that Brazil "has not been able to deal with the problem of unemployment effectively." But, he added, there is a paradox in the fact that as the number of people looking for work has risen, the number of jobs offered has also risen. He pointed out that the number of job openings in the first quarter of this year was the biggest in 12 years. "The creation of jobs has been very strong this year," said the minister.

The Dieese survey found that unemployment among the Economically Active Population in the metropolitan region of São Paulo rose from 19.8% to 20.6% in February, which means that two million people were without work.

The head of the Força Sindical, a large labor union, Paulo Pereira da Silva, said that the Dieese survey shows that the unemployment problem is grave and the country "on the edge of chaos." Palocci, commenting on Silva's remarks, said that everybody has a right to his opinion.

Translator: Allen Bennett