IBGE: Unemployment rises in 11 states in the 2nd quarter

Brazil's unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2020 stood at 13.3%, representing an increase of 1.1 percentage point (p.p. ) in relation to the first quarter of the year, when it recorded 12.2%. Compared to the same quarter of 2019 grew 1.3 p.p. There the rate was 12%. Between April and June this year, unemployment rose in 11 states and was stable at 14. The highest rates were in Bahia (19.9%), Sergipe (19.8%), Alagoas (17.8%), Amazonas (16.5%), Rio de Janeiro (16.4%) in Roraima (16.3%) and Maranhão (16.0%).
The lowest were in Santa Catarina (6.9%), Pará (9.1%), Rio Grande do Sul (9.4%) and Paraná (9.6%). Only Amapá (-5.8%) and Pará (-1.6%) recorded a fall compared to the previous period. The national average of unemployment, of 13.3%, was exceeded in 12 units of the federation.
The data are from the National Quarterly Continuous Household Sample Survey (Continuous PNAD) for the second quarter of 2020, released today (28) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Also compared to the same quarter of 2019, 12 states had a rise in the unemployment rate. The largest were Sergipe (4.5 p.p.), Rondônia (3.9 p.p.) and Minas Gerais (3.4 p.p.). Still in this comparison, Pará repeated the performance and showed a fall of 2.1 p.p. The other units of the federation recorded stability.
As IBGE had already released on The 6th of this month, between April and June, the country had 12.8 million people without work. The unemployment rate grew by 1.3 p.p., compared to the second quarter of 2019.
- Dismay
The Quarterly Continuous PNAD also indicated that the number of dismayed reached 5.6 million people. This is equivalent to growth of 19.1% compared to the previous quarter. Bahia concentrated the largest contingent (849,000). The percentage of dismayed (relative to the population in the workforce or dismayed) between April and June reached 5.6%, an increase of 1.2 p.p., compared to the first quarter of 2020. The highest percentages were recorded in Maranhão (21.6%) and in Alagoas (20.7%), Santa Catarina (1.4%) and The Federal District (1.2%), were the smallest.
- Inequalities
The research also pointed out that inequalities between gender, color and race and by age continue. From April to June, the unemployment rate of men stood at 12% and 14.9% for women, who are still the largest contingent among people of working age (53%). The rate for whites (10.4%) was below the national average, as opposed to for blacks (17.8%) and for browns (15.4%), with percentages above average.
The youngest were the ones with the highest unemployment rate (42.8%), while the age groups 25 to 39 were in 35.3% and 18 to 24 years (29.7%) continued with high rates. The lowest rate occurred among the elderly who are 60 years of age or older, with 4.8%.
Research analyst Adriana Beringuy noted that all regions recorded a decline in the occupancy rate and pointed to the hardest hit. "The level of occupation has fallen in all major regions. And the record fall in the level of occupation in the second quarter was more intense among men; people aged 18 to 24 and, by level of education, those who have up to high school. With regard to color and race, people of black and brown color also had very sharp falls throughout Brazil", he said.
- Wallet
Among private sector workers, 77.7% had a signed work permit, but in the north (65.1% ) and northeast (63.8%), the percentages were lower. The lowest rates were in Maranhão (48.3%), Piauí (53.9%) and Pará (54.5%) and the largest in Santa Catarina (88.8%), Paraná (82.1%) and São Paulo (81.2%). The proportion of workers with a signed portfolio in the private sector in the same quarter of 2019 was 28.4%.
- Informality
The rate of informal reached 36.9% in the second quarter. This means a decrease of 3 p.p. compared to the previous period and 4.3 p.p., compared to the same quarter last year. Even with the fall in all regions, the north (52.5%) and the northeast (48.3%) are above the national average. The Midwest (35.7%), the Southeast (31.5%) and the south (29.4%) had the lowest rates and below the national average.
According to Adriana Beringuy, the fall in informality is not the result of a higher level of formalization of work, but of the fall in occupation among informal workers. "In fact, there was a fall in informality, because informal workers were more affected by the loss of occupation. The fall in occupation was pulled by formal workers," he said.
The highest informality rates were in Pará (56.4%), Maranhão (55.6%), Amazonas (55.0%) and Piauí (53.6%). Santa Catarina (25.8%), Federal District (26%) and São Paulo (28.6%) recorded the lowest percentages.
- Own account
Self-employed people reached 26% of the employed population. Amapá (36.7%), Paraíba (34.2%) and Pará (32.9%) were the highest percentages, while the lowest were in the Federal District (19.1%), São Paulo (22.3%) and Santa Catarina (23.6%).
- Search
The research also indicated that in the second quarter of 2020, 7.4 million of the unemployed sought occupation for a period of at least one month to less than a year, that is, it grew 27.9% compared to the same period in 2019. Already 2.5 million had been looking for more than 2 years, a 26.5% decrease from the second quarter of 2019.
- Income
The research also showed that the average real income of all jobs, usually received per month by people employed with work income, was estimated at R$ 2.5 thousand. This represents an increase, both in relation to the immediately preceding quarter (R$ 2,389), and in relation to the same quarter of 2019 (R$ 2,339). In the relationship between the first and second quarters of 2020, there was an increase in the five regions. The highest incomes were recorded in the Federal District (R$ 4,009), São Paulo (R$ 3,167) and Rio de Janeiro (R$ 3,162). The minors in Maranhão (R$ 1,426), Piauí (R$ 1,495) and Alagoas (R$ 1,549).
- Pandemic
The IBGE reported that because of the covid-19 pandemic, household sampling surveys began to present percentages of non-response, i.e., an unconducted interview, higher than usual expected. For IBGE, although there are so far no losses to the quality of the key indicators of continuous PNAD, related to quarterly disclosure, methodological improvements are needed. Therefore, some areas of dissemination have been deleted, without prejudice to the quality of information.
"The indicators suppressed were breakdowns by sex, color or race and income by occupation category and activities," completed The Coordinator of Work and Income, Maria Lúcia Vieira.