RIO DE JANEIRO: A total of 11.2 percent of Brazilian’s active working population, or around 11.4 million people, are out of work during the period March-May, the government said Wednesday.
The figure represents a considerable increase, compared with 8.1 percent of the same period in 2015 and 10.2 percent from December to February, according to data released by the official Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The private sector was particularly affected, having lost 4.2 percent of its workforce year-on-year, or 1.5 million people. The employment was 1.2 percent down from December to February, or 428,000 posts.
The average salary across the country from March to May also dropped to 1,982 reais (610 U.S. dollars), 2.7 percent down from that of the same period last year.
Brazil’s entrenched economic recession has wreaked havoc on employment in the country, with its GDP shrinking 3.8 percent in 2015 and expecting to drop 3.44 percent in 2016, according to government predictions.
