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Almost 2 million people or 20 percent of the economically active
population are without a job in
the São Paulo metropolitan area,
Brazil's most dynamic economic center. Nationwide, the
unemployment rate was 13 percent in August, practically
stable in relation to July, when the rate was 12.8 percent.
by:
Elisângela Cordeiro
Unemployment in the São Paulo metropolitan area rose to 20 percent of the economically active population (PEA)
in the month of August. This represents 1.969 million people. The rate was 19.7 percent in July. These data were released
by the Seade Foundation, in partnership with the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socio-Economic Studies (Dieese).
According to the study, the number of unemployed people increased by 35 thousand, as a result of the entry of 27
thousand people on the job market and the loss of 8 thousand jobs. The reduction in income of people with jobs amounted to 1.6
percent, ending up at R$ 898 (US$ 299). The reduction in the average income of salaried workers was 1 percent, ending up at
R$ 967 (US$ 322).
Nationwide, the unemployment rate was 13 percent in August, practically stable in relation to July, when the rate
was 12.8 percent. Compared with August, 2002 (11.7 percent), there was a 1.3 percent increase. These data come from the
Monthly Employment Survey, released September 24 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
Compared with last August, unemployment among young people between 16 and 24 years old rose 3 percent, ending
up at 26.3 percent. For the 25-49 age group, the rate stood at 10 percent, a 1 percent increase. For the 50+ age group, the
rate was 5.4 percent, an increase of 0.4 percent.
The survey shows that in August the average salary of workers rose 1.5 percent in comparison with July, but it fell
13.8 percent in comparison with August, 2002.
On a somewhat rosier note, the average real income of workers in August was R$ 847.90, 1.5 percent more than in
July, according to the Monthly Employment Survey released by the IBGE. Based on the same comparison, there was a 2.2
percent increase in income among private sector workers with signed working papers and a 5.1 percent increase among private
sector workers without signed working papers, while the average real income of self-employed workers fell 3.9 percent.
In comparison with August, 2002, income fell in the six metropolitan areas surveyed. In Recife, the decline
amounted to 19.2 percent; in Salvador, 5.4 percent; Belo Horizonte, 12.5 percent; Rio de Janeiro, 18.1 percent; São Paulo, 12.2
percent; and Porto Alegre, 8.5 percent. The income of private sector workers with signed working papers fell 9.5 percent; that of
informal workers (without signed working papers) in the private sector, 4.7 percent; and that of self-employed workers, 21 percent.
Stock Market Up
On another front, foreign investments on the São Paulo stock market have risen 77.4 percent over the last 12
months. From the 1st to the
20th of September, R$ 4.4 billion (US$ 1.47 billion) entered the stock market (compared to R$ 3.4
billion—US$ 1.1 billion—in August), and R$ 3.6 billion (US$ 1.2 billion) migrated out, for a surplus of R$ 832 million (US$
277 million). With that result, there is now a cumulative surplus from January to September of R$ 4.2 billion (US$ 1.4 billion).
Elisângela Cordeiro works for Agência Brasil (AB), the official press agency of the Brazilian government.
Comments are welcome at lia@radiobras.gov.br
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