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Unemployment in Brazil attained 10.9% in September in comparison with August, its lowest level since December, 2002, according to figures released today by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The index stood at 11.4% in August. There was also a decline in comparison with September, 2003, when 12.9% of the country's economically active population was unemployed.
There were 2.370 million people unable to find work in September, as against 2.458 million in August, in Brazil's six principal metropolitan areas (Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Porto Alegre).
The IBGE's Monthly Employment Survey indicates that unemployment levels remained stable in all six regions except São Paulo, where there was a 0.9% drop.
The manager of the survey, Cimar Azeredo, said that the unemployment level should continue to fall, but he did not want to risk a prediction whether the rate will reach single-digit figures by the end of this year. He attributes the decrease to the country's economic stability.
The study also shows an increase in the number of workers with formal jobs (signed working papers): 1.6% in comparison with August and 3.0% in comparison with September, 2003.
The increase in São Paulo, in comparison with August, amounted to 2.7% (an additional 89 thousand workers with formal jobs).
Agência Brasil
Translator: David Silberstein
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