Unemployment of 5.2% in the 3rd quarter is the lowest for the period since 2012

The unemployment rate for the third quarter fell to 5.2%, the lowest ever recorded for that period since 2012. Unemployment was 5.4% in the second quarter of this year and 5.6% in the third quarter of 2025.

The data comes from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Pnad), released this Friday (30), by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

The unemployed population (5.6 million) decreased by 4% (234 thousand people less) compared to the quarter from April to June (5.9 million). Compared to the same quarter of the previous year (6 million), there was a drop of 6.9% (417 thousand fewer people).

Employed population

The employed population, which totals 103.6 million people, was the largest in the historical series, with an increase of 0.6% in the quarter (plus 581 thousand) and an increase of 1.2% in the year (plus 1.2 million).

The level of employment – ​​percentage of employed people in the population of working age – was also a record, reaching 59%. Furthermore, there was a variation of 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter (58.8%) and stability in relation to the same quarter of the previous year (58.7%).

Informality

According to the survey, the informality rate was 37.5% of the employed population (or 38.8 million informal workers), compared to 37.4% (or 38.6 million) in the quarter and 37.8% (or 38.7 million) in the year.

Yield

IBGE reported that the usual real income from all jobs (R$3,790) remained stable in the quarter and grew 3.6% in the year (plus R$131). The usual real income volume (R$387.5 billion) was the highest in the series, with an increase of 1.5% in the quarter (plus R$5.6 billion) and 4.7% in the year (plus R$17.5 billion).