STORY-TRÅD·ekonomi

Second quarter has 5.4% unemployment, lowest ever for the period

Brazil’s unemployment rate in the second quarter stood at 5.4 percent, reaching the lowest level ever recorded since 2012, when the historical series of the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) began. The result represents a decline from the first quarter of the year (6.1%) and compared to the same period in 2025, when it stood at 5.8 percent. The data were released on Thursday (Jul. 30) by the statistics bureau IBGE. Notícias relacionadas:Brazilian economy grows 0.7% in May, driven by household consumption.Brazil creates over 767,000 new jobs in 2026.In the second quarter, Brazil reached 103.1 million employed people – about 1.081 million more than in the first quarter. This figure is the highest ever recorded in any period covered by the survey. The number of unemployed people stood at 5.9 million, down 10 percent (718,000 people) from the first quarter. The study shows that during the three-month period from April to June, Brazil had 39.4 million workers with formal employment contracts – the highest figure in the entire history of the survey – and 13.6 million without formal contracts. The proportion of informal workers in the employed population was 37.4 percent in the second quarter. The average monthly income of Brazilian workers stood at BRL 3,738, the highest ever recorded for a second quarter. However, it is lower than the figure recorded in the first quarter of 2026 (BRL 3,765). Despite a record-low unemployment rate during the period, income remains stable, according to research analyst William Kratochwill, because new hires typically earn wages that are average or below those of other workers. High interest The data pointing to a strong job market coincide with a period in which Brazil is experiencing a high benchmark interest rate – the Selic – set by the Central Bank, currently at 14.25 percent. IBGE analyst William Kratochwill notes that the labor market itself creates a virtuous cycle, mitigating the impact of high interest rates on employment. “When more people are employed, consumption increases, as do orders and production. The labor market itself may be contributing to companies continuing to hire,” he said. He points out that one of the effects of the economic upturn can be seen in the number of discouraged individuals – people who were not even looking for work because they believed they would not find it – which stood at 2.3 million, down 14.7 percent (365,000 fewer) compared to the first quarter. The survey IBGE’s PNAD tracks labor market trends for people aged 14 and older and takes into account all forms of employment, including formal and informal work, temporary positions, and self-employment. Only those who actively sought a job within 30 days prior to the survey are considered unemployed. The survey visits 211,000 households across all Brazilian states and the Federal District.