Lower Unemployment and Rising Wages Good News for Brazil Property Investors
Recent statistics published by a leading Brazilian research agency illustrated some interesting progress in terms of both unemployment and wage levels in the country.
According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the unemployment rate stood at 6.7 percent (1.6 million people) in August which reached its lowest rate since March of 2002 (the figure for August 2009 was 8.1 percent) – the lowest previous statistic was recorded in December 2009 with a rate of 6.8 percent. The employed population remained unchanged at 22.1 million from the previous month but increased 3.2 percent (691,000 jobs) in the year.
Looking at some of the main regions of the country in the month, falls were seen in Recife (1.9 percent), Belo Horizonte and São Paulo (2.3 percent) as well as Porto Alegre (0.8 percent). In Salvador and Rio de Janeiro there was no movement.
Average wage rises also continued to show encouraging signs with an increase from R$ 1,451.91 in July to R$ 1,472.10 in August. Looking at some of the regions of the country – in the month between July and August, the following rises were seen: Recife by 4.4 percent, Salvador by 3.3 percent, Rio de Janeiro by 2.5 percent, São Paulo by 0.7 percent, Porto Alegre also by 0.7 percent and Belo Horizonte remained flat. In the year, some notable increases were as follows: Recife by 17.5 percent, Salvador by 7.7 percent, Belo Horizonte 6.6 by percent, Porto Alegre by 6.4 percent, Rio de Janeiro by 5.7 percent and São Paulo by 3.8 percent.
Such statistics continue to indicate that the country is well over the brief recessionary period experienced during 2008 and 2009. Whilst valid concerns do remain with regards to future inflationary pressures that will result from rising incomes, the monetary policy committee of Brazil has argued that the removal of economic stimulus programmes and the impact of slow activity abroad will help control price acceleration.
