Brazil jobless rate falls to 22-month low

Brazil's unemployment rate fell to a 22-month low of 10.5 percent in October on the back of strong economic growth, the government's IBGE statistics agency said on Friday.

The rate was lower than the average forecast of 10.6 percent among five analysts polled by Reuters and was down from 10.9 percent in September.

October's result equaled the rate recorded in December 2002, which was then the lowest rate registered since a new methodology for calculating unemployment was adopted in October 2001, the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics said.

In the six metropolitan regions surveyed, the IBGE estimated there were 37.8 million people of working age. Of these, 21.7 million were in the labor market and 19.4 million were employed.The IBGE only considers people to be active in the labor market if they have searched for work in the latest survey period.

Some members of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's cabinet have suggested the IBGE change its survey to include the country's vast interior, where agricultural exports are driving a bustling expansion in output and jobs.A nationwide survey including the hinterlands would provide a better snapshot of the labor market in this nation of 180 million people, critics say.

The average monthly wage in October was 900 reais ($329), down 1.2 percent from September. Buying power rose 2.6 percent from October 2003, the IBGE said.

While unemployment fell in October, partly because some workers left the labor market, wages and total purchasing power remain weak after several years of modest inflation combined with slow growth. Brazil's economy is expected to grow at its fastest pace in 10 years in 2004. ($1=2.736 reais).

(From Reuters, November 26, 2004)

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