Unemployment rate in the country in Q4 2021 was 11.1%, with a decrease of 1.5 percentage points (p.p) from the Jul-Sep 2021 quarter (12.3%) and of 3.0 p.p from the same quarter in 2020 (14.2%).
The annual average rate fell from 13.8% in 2020 to 13.2% in 2021.
Against the previous quarter, the unemployment rate fell in 15 Federation Units, having remanined stable in the other ones. Amazonas (2.6 p. p.) and Sergipe (2,5 p. p.) recorded the biggest decreases.
The highest unemployment rates were those of Amapá (17.5%), Bahia (17.3%), Pernambuco (17.1%) and the lowest, those of Santa Catarina (4.3%), Mato Grosso (5.9%) and Mato Grosso do Sul (6.4%).
The unemployment rate by sex was 9.0% for men and 13.9% for women in Q4 2021.
The unemployment rate by color or race was below the national average for white persons (9.0%) and above for blacks (13,6%) and browns (12.6%). The unemployment rate for persons with incomplete secondary education (18.4%) exceeded the rates of other levels of schooling. Among persons with incomplete higher education, the rate was 11.8%, more than twice as that observed for complete higher education (5.2%).
The highest annual average unemployment rates were those of Pernambuco (19.9%), Bahia (19.5%) and Sergipe (17.9%) and the lowest, those of Santa Catarina (5.5%), Mato Grosso (8.0%), Paraná (8.4%).
In Q4 2021, the compound underutilization rate (percentage of unemployed persons, time-related underemployed persons, and those in the potential workforce in relation to the extended workforce) was 24.3%. Piauà (42.8%) recorded the highest rate, followed by Maranhão (40.5%) and Sergipe (39.6%) all of them above 39%. The lowest rates were those of Santa Catarina (8.6%), Mato Grosso (12.3%) and Rondônia (15.0%).
The average annual underutilization rate in Brazil was 27.2%. Among Federation Units, the highest rates were those of Piauà (45.4%), Maranhão (44.5%) and Alagoas (42.6%) and the lowest, of Santa Catarina (10.2%), Mato Grosso (14.2%) and Paraná (17.4%).
The number of discouraged persons in Q4 2021 was 4.8 million persons. The biggest number was that of Bahia (682 thousand discouraged persons, or 14.2% of the national total). The annual average of discouraged persons was 5.3 million persons in 2021, with the biggest figures recorded in Bahia (715 thousand persons), Maranhão (619 thousand persons) and São Paulo (519 thousand persons) and the smallest, in Roraima (16 thousand persons), Mato Grosso (25 thousand persons) and Rondônia (27 thousand persons).
The percentage of discouraged persons (against the population in the workforce or discouraged) in Q4 2021 was 4.3%. Maranhão (17.0%) and Alagoas (14.1%) had the highest percentages, Santa Catarina (0.6%), Mato Grosso (1.2%) and Rio Grande do Sul (1.3%), the lowest. In the annual average, the percentage of discouraged persons was 4.9% in 2021, with the biggest proportions in Maranhão (18.8%), Alagoas (15.9%) and Piauà (13.7%) and the smallest proportions in Santa Catarina (0.8%), Mato Grosso (1.4%) and Rio Grande do Sul (1.5%).
Workers with a formal contract were 73.5% of those employed in the private sector. The biggest percentages were those of Santa Catarina (87.9%), São Paulo (81.5%), Rio Grande do Sul (80.9%) and the smallest, those of Piauà (48.6%), Maranhão (50.0%) and Pará (51.1%).
The percentage of self-employed workers in the country was 27.1%. The biggest percentages were those of Amapá (38.0%), Amazonas (36.2%) and Pará (35.0%) and the smallest, those of Federal District (20.9%), Mato Grosso do Sul (23.6%) and São Paulo (23.7%).
The informality rate in Brazil was 40.7% of the employed population. The highest rates were those of Pará (62.7%), Maranhão (59.4%) and Amazonas (58.7%) and the lowest, those of Santa Catarina (27.3%), São Paulo (31.2%) and Rio Grande do Sul (33.0%).
The average annual informality rate in the country was 40.1% of the employed population. The highest annual averages were those of Pará (61.0%), Maranhão (60.2%) and Amazonas (59.5%) and the lowest, of Catarina (26.5%), São Paulo (30.4%) and Federal District (31.3%). ■