Data Sets For Unemployment In Brazil

During the later parts of 1990s, Brazil has seen a significant rise in the rates of unemployment. Between 1995 and 1999 the rate of unemployment grew at a rate of about 10%.this high unemployment rates during this period led to social unrest in Brazil. The highest rise of unemployment was seen in 1998; in fact the official figures released in the first six months of that year were 7.8%.this rates were not acceptable in Brazil especially by labor unions and they claimed that the figure was way higher almost two times the official figure. However after the year 2000 the rates of unemployment in Brazil have gotten more or less stable and just minor fluctuations have been recorded. The average unemployment rate after 2000 has been within 10% (Economy watch, 2010).

The unemployment statistics in Brazil show that in 2003 the rate was 6.4% but rose significantly in 2004 to about 12.3%.a minor fall was then recorded in 2005 to 11.5% and it fell further in 2006 to 9.8%.in 2007 a further fall was recorded to about 9.6%.the largest city in Brazil Sao Paolo in 2003 recorded a 20% rate of unemployment. Being the largest city in Brazil it is the country‘s major driver when it comes to the growth of the economy. About 1.969 million people in the city were unemployed during that period. Six metropolitan hubs of Brazil are taken to be the major economic hubs and are attributed to a high majority of employment in urban areas in Brazil. January 2006 saw a 9.2 unemployment rates in these major metropolitan areas and it was a very sharp rise from the previous records in December the previous year that were 8.3%.this was attributed to the fact that people in the Brazil metropolitan are employed during holidays and loose their jobs as soon as the holiday season ends and therefore a sharp rise in unemployment is unavoidable after a holiday season. The very high population in Brazil is also a major cause of the problem of unemployment. The population in Brazil is the second highest after the United States. Brazil has tried to control the unemployment rates since 2003.the country aims for the working population that had been estimated to be 125 million in 2006 to reach 147.8 million by 2020 (Economy watch ,2010).

Relationship between unemployment and Brazil’s economy

Unemployment in Brazil directly affects the economy of the country in several ways this include economic costs; rates of unemployment being persistent in Brazil indicate that there will be market failure in the country. Unemployment is an indication that resources are being wasted thus leading to loss of potential output and eventually a reduction in allocative efficiency. Brazil’s economy will then be seen to operate below the maximum output that the country has potential of.

Unemployment also affects the economy of Brazil through financial costs. The Government of Brazil and the entire nation suffers some costs due to unemployment. There are some benefits that the government has to pay the unemployed and therefore the higher the rates of unemployment the more the government spends. The nation will not only deal with income that is lost and low production but also the extra cost by the government. The spending power of the unemployed people in Brazil also goes down as they would prefer to save than spend which will have an adverse effect on the economy. Increased rates of unemployment in Brazil affect other economic factors such as a person’s income, the cost of health .living standards and poverty.

Trends in the data

The rates of unemployment are seen to be fluctuating in the years. Urban unemployment was 10% in 2006 but dropped significantly to 9.5 in 2007.the unemployment population in Brazil of 1.3 million people in January 2013 was seen to rise by 1.2% when a comparison was made in the previous month that was 1.1 million. When an analysis is done on a year to year basis the number of people unemployed rose by 2.8% a six hundred and thirty one thousand increase (Trading Economies, 2012).This clearly shows that the rates of unemployment in Brazil are fluctuating sometimes up and other times down. The service sector has played a significant role in decreasing the rates of unemployment in Brazil. The rate of unemployment of women has also been on a downward trend in recent years.

References

Economy watch. (2010).Brazil unemployment. Retrieved March 10, 2013 from http://www.economywatch.com/unemployment/countries/brazil.htmlTrading Economies. (2012). Brazil Unemployment Rate. Retrieved March 10, 2013 from http://www.tradingeconomics.com/brazil/unemployment-rate