RIO DE JANEIRO, June 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s jobless rate fell in the
latest three-month period, data showed Friday, but the number of people who gave up looking for work hit a record high as the economy totters on the edge of recession.
The grim assessment of Brazil’s job market came a day after figures showed
Latin America’s biggest economy shrank 0.2 percent in the first quarter —
the first contraction since it emerged from a devastating 2015-2016
recession.
Embattled President Jair Bolsonaro came to power in January on a
promise to revive the economy, which grew only 1.1 percent in 2017 and 2018.
He may take some comfort from the improvement in the February-April
unemployment rate of 12.5 percent — down from 12.7 percent in the January to March period.
But it still leaves more than 13 million people looking for work.
Friday’s data also showed that a record 4.9 million people gave up
searching for a job — 4.3 percent more than the previous three-month period.
And the number of underemployed people — which measures the utilization of the workforce — also hit the highest level since the statistical series began in 2012 — 28.4 million people, up 3.9 percent.
The outlook for Brazil’s economy is bleak. Market analysts have pared back
their full-year growth forecasts for 13 weeks in a row and now expect the
economy to grow 1.2 percent.
Bolsonaro’s government has insisted that the way to turn around the
economy is to pass its ambitious pension reform, which is stalled in
Congress.
One of the factors holding back Brazil’s recovery is its huge public debt,
which the International Monetary Fund estimates to be 88 percent of GDP — one of the largest among its peers. — NNN-AGENCIES
