BRASILIA, Reuters – Brazil’s unemployment rate was 11.2% for the three months to February according to statistics agency IBGE. This is the lowest figure in six years and comes amid a decline in people looking for work.

This rate did not fluctuate between the three month period and January. It was also unchanged from September 2021 to November 2021, although it was lower by four-tenths.

An economist poll by Reuters had predicted that the unemployment rate would rise to 11.4% over the next three months, ending February.

Adriana Beringuy from IBGE noted that employment was steady compared to three months ago. This may be a sign of the return of the pattern established before the COVID-19 epidemic.

IBGE reported that Brazil’s officially unemployed population reached 12,000,000 in the period. That is 3.1% more than the prior three months and 19.5% less than it was last year.

Workers received an average monthly salary of 2,511 Brazilian reais (529) which was the same as the three previous months but decreased 8.8% when compared with the same period 2021. The lowest for the three-month period ending in February, since 2012’s series, was reported by IBGE. This suggests that labor market recovery is centered around lower-income professions.

According to the Economy Ministry, job creation is key to economic growth in this year. However, private economists predict Brazil’s economic growth will be much lower than official estimates.

($1 = 4.7466 reais)