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Unemployment increased in all regions of Brazil during the first quarter of 2020, a period that began to feel the effects of the arrival of the new coronavirus in the country, as published on Friday (15) by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
The increase in the unemployment rate was mainly felt in the northeast region, going from 13.6% in the last quarter of 2019 to 15.6% in the first three months of this year. The rate also increased in the Southeast (11.4% to 12.4%), North (10.6% to 11.9%), Midwest (9.3% to 10.6%), and South (6.8% to 7.5%).
“All the regions of the country showed significant growth when comparing the rate with the fourth quarter,” said Adriana Beringuy, analyst at IBGE.
The first known case of Covid-19 in Brazil occurred on February 25. In the following month, the country began to feel the economic effects of the new coronavirus, with a quarantine decree in the states and municipalities throughout Brazil, which caused the closure of bars, restaurants and shops as a way to prevent the advance of the pandemic. Until this Thursday (14), there were 13,993 deaths, with more than 200,000 infected with the disease.
The launch of Pnad Continua (National Survey by Sample of Continuous Households) indicated that 12 states had an increase in the unemployment rate. In the other 15 units of the federation, the unemployment rate remained stable compared to the last quarter of 2019.
Brazil ended the first quarter of this year with 1,218 million more people on the unemployment line. With the increase in the number of unemployed, the unemployment rate increased to 12.2%.
The unemployed population went from 11,632 million in the last quarter of 2019 to 12,850 million in the three months of 2020, according to the IBGE National Household Sample Survey (PNAD). The increase in the period was 10.5%.
The first known case of Covid-19 in Brazil occurred on February 25. In the following month, the country began to feel the economic effects of the new coronavirus, with a quarantine decree in the states and municipalities, which caused the closure of bars, restaurants and shops as a way to prevent the pandemic from advancing.
Since then, the largest increases in unemployment have been observed in Maranhão, which increased 3.9 percentage points, in Alagoas, with 2.9 percentage points more than in the previous quarter, and in Rio Grande do Norte, an increase of 2.7 percentage points. The highest rates were observed in Bahía (18.7%), Amapá (17.2%), Alagoas and Roraima (16.5%),
According to the IBGE, unemployment increased in various segments of society in the quarter that ended in March 2020. Among the people who declared themselves black and brown, the increase was 13.5% and 12.6%, in the fourth quarter, for , respectively, 15.2% and 14%. Among whites, it increased from 8.7% to 9.8%. Among women, the unemployment rate was 14.5%, while 10.4% of men were in the same situation.
Among 18-24 year olds, unemployment increased from 23.8% in the last quarter of 2019 to 27.1% in the quarter that ended in March. “Most of the temporary workers dismissed at the beginning of the year are young, which makes the drop in the level of employment even greater in this range,” explains Adriana.
The survey also showed an increase in Brazil’s job search time: 8.1 million had been looking for a new job for up to a year. Another 1.6 million had been searching for an occupation for less than two years, while 3.1 million people had tried for two or more years.
The Pnad continued with the results of the March quarter was carried out for the first time by telephone, with the aim of protecting workers. However, he had trouble listening to Brazilians: the survey was not designed to be done over the phone. Thus, the response rate of the respondents was only 61.6%, well below the approximately 88% in December.
The increase in unemployment indicated by the survey is a reflection of the falls in the country’s economic indicators in March, directly caused by the first month with measures of social isolation enacted to contain the advance of the new coronavirus.
The services sector, responsible for 60% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), had a record drop of 6.9% in the month. Brazilian commercial sales, on the other hand, fell 2.5% in March. Industrial production, hit by falling sales, fell 9.1%, the worst result since the 2018 truckers’ strike.
