At the end of 2021, Brazil had the sixth highest unemployment rate in a list of 42 countries. This is what a ranking produced by the chief economist of the Austin Rating agency, Alex Agostini, points out.
In the quarter ended in December, the unemployment rate in Brazil was 11.1%, informed this Thursday (24) the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
The result is even lower than that seen at the end of 2020 (14.2%), the initial year of the pandemic. It is also the same as in the fourth quarter of 2019, before the coronavirus crisis.
However, it still exceeds the rates of most countries that have already released the latest data for 2021, according to the Austin Rating survey.
In Agostini’s view, the fact that Brazil has one of the highest levels of unemployment reflects a combination of factors.
According to the economist, the pandemic aggravated the problems of the country’s labor market, which was already suffering from structural issues, such as the low qualification of a considerable portion of the workforce.
“Employment is the first variable to suffer with the arrival of a crisis and is usually the last to react when the economy starts to return”, says Agostini.
According to the economist, the Brazilian scenario for 2022 is not the most favorable. Persistent inflation, high interest rates and uncertainties in the electoral race tend to slow down economic activity and, consequently, the resumption of the job market.
“Part of the projection of low economic performance comes from the combination of high interest rates and inflation. There is also uncertainty about the elections. This makes companies reduce hiring. It will be a difficult year for those who are unemployed, unfortunately”, he assesses.
According to the ranking produced by Agostini, Costa Rica was the nation with the highest unemployment rate at the end of 2021: 15.6%. The economist points out that political turmoil experienced by the country, in addition to the pandemic, may have impacted the local result.
Next, Spain occupies the second position on the list, with unemployment in the range of 13%. The country was already mired in economic difficulties before Covid-19, says Agostini.
The other nations with higher unemployment rates than Brazil at the end of 2021 were the following: Greece (12.7%), Colombia (12.6%) and Turkey (11.2%).
The other end of the ranking is filled by the Czech Republic, with unemployment of 2.1%. This is the lowest rate among the 42 countries evaluated. Singapore had the second lowest (2.4%) and Switzerland the third (2.6%).
The unemployment rate measures the percentage of people looking for work (unemployed) in relation to the economically active population.
In November, a report by sheet showed that the labor market in Brazil has been threatened by a kind of low productivity trap.
In other words, activities that demand less study and offer lower salaries have increased space in the total number of vacancies created, while professions that place the country on a new technological frontier, with more qualification and income, have even been growing, but are still not very representative.
The trends were identified in a study by researchers linked to FGV Ibre (Brazilian Institute of Economics of Fundação Getulio Vargas).
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