Under Lula, unemployment reaches 6,8%, hitting a historic low. Income and formal employment hit record highs.

247 - The unemployment rate in Brazil rose to 6,8% in the moving quarter ending in February 2025, according to data from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD Contínua), released this Thursday (28) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The result represents an increase of 0,7 percentage points compared to the previous quarter (ending in November 2024), when the rate was 6,1%.

Nevertheless, the Brazilian labor market registered important advances: the number of workers with formal employment contracts reached 39,6 million — the highest since the beginning of the historical series in 2012 — and the average usual income reached R$ 3.378, also the highest ever recorded by the survey. The current unemployment rate equals the lowest rate for quarters ending in February since 2014.

Unemployment is rising, but it's lower than a year ago. The unemployed population increased by 10,4% compared to the previous quarter, reaching 7,5 million people. Even so, this number is 12,5% ​​lower than that recorded in the same period of 2024, when the country was still facing more intense effects of the pandemic on the labor market.

The coordinator of household surveys at IBGE, Adriana Beringuy, explained that the increase in unemployment follows a seasonal pattern. "This rise follows the seasonal pattern of the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD Contínua), with a tendency for increased job seeking in the first quarter of each year," she stated.

The employed population, in turn, suffered a slight contraction: it fell 1,2% in the quarter, totaling 102,7 million people. Despite this, it still represents an increase of 2,4% compared to the same period of the previous year.

Construction and public sector drive decline in employment - Compared to the previous quarter, no activity group showed growth in the number of employed people. The most significant declines were recorded in Construction (-4%, or 310 fewer people), Public administration, defense, education, health and social assistance (-2,5%, or 468 fewer people) and Domestic services (-4,8%, or 290 fewer workers).

On the other hand, when compared to the same quarter of 2024, four sectors showed significant growth in employment: General Industry (3,2%, with 409 more workers), Trade and vehicle repair (3,6%, with 690 more), Information, communication and administrative services (3,5%, with 447 more) and the public and social services sector (4,1%, with 717 more). The only decrease in this comparison was in Domestic Services (-3,6%, or 216 fewer people).

Formal employment is increasing and informality is decreasing. The number of employees with formal contracts in the private sector reached 39,6 million people — a record high in the historical series. There was a growth of 1,1% in the quarter (an increase of 421 jobs) and 4,1% in the accumulated 12 months (an increase of 1,6 million). For Adriana Beringuy, this performance is linked to commercial activity: "The expansion of formal employment is related to the maintenance of hiring in the retail sector."

Meanwhile, the number of employees without formal contracts (13,5 million) fell by 6% in the quarter and remained stable compared to the previous year. The public sector (12,4 million) saw a decrease of 3,9% in the quarter, but increased by 2,8% year-on-year. Self-employed workers (25,9 million) remained stable in the quarter and grew by 1,7% over 12 months.

These movements led to a slight reduction in the informality rate, which went from 38,7% to 38,1% of the employed population — the equivalent of 39,1 million people.

Average income and total wages at historic levels. Another highlight of the survey was the average real income of workers, which reached R$ 3.378 — the highest value ever recorded since the beginning of the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD Contínua) series in 2012. This figure represents a growth of 1,3% in the quarter and 3,6% compared to the same period last year, after adjusting for inflation.

The largest increases in the quarter were observed in the sectors of Industry (2,8%, or an increase of R$ 89), Public administration and social services (3,1%, or an increase of R$ 139) and Domestic services (2,3%, or an increase of R$ 29). “The increase in income in the quarter is related to the reduction in the number of informal workers in certain segments of economic activities, therefore increasing the proportion of formal occupations with higher incomes,” explained Adriana Beringuy.

In the year-on-year comparison, the largest increases were recorded in Construction (5,4%, or an increase of R$ 135) and in Domestic Services (3,1%, or an increase of R$ 39).

Even with the slight reduction in the employed population, the total real income reached R$ 342 billion, a new record, remaining stable in the quarter and growing by 6,2% (R$ 20 billion more) compared to the previous year.