Brazil Unemployment Rate Rises in March

2026-04-30 12:15 By Isabela Couto 1 min. read

The unemployment rate in Brazil rose to 6.1% in the moving quarter ended March 2026 from 5.8% in the prior quarter, matching market expectations.

Still, this marks the lowest rate for a quarter ended in March in the historical series, which began in 2012.

The unemployed population grew by 19.6% to 6.6 million in the quarter.

Employment fell 2.5% in the public sector and 1.0% in the private sector.

The employment level was 58.2%, a drop of 0.7 p.p.

in the quarter.

Over the year, the unemployed population fell by 13.0%.



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