Campo Grande is the capital with the lowest unemployment rate in the country – Economy

2023-05-18 23:45:00

Municipality records unemployment rate of 3.4% in the first quarter, the lowest in all of Brazil

Woman looking for a job at a fair organized by Funsat (Photo: Paulo Francis)

Campo Grande took the lead among Brazilian capitals with the lowest unemployment rate in the country, with only 3.4% in the first quarter. The numbers represent the lowest unemployment rate for a first quarter since the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) started publishing the PNAD (Household Sample Survey).

Among the other capitals, Porto Velho (RO) appears next, with a vacancy rate of 3.5%, followed by Florianópolis (SC), Curitiba (PR) and Goiânia (GO), all with 5.5%. On the other hand, Salvador (BA) registers the highest unemployment rate, with 16.7%, followed by Recife (PE) with 15.1%, Manaus (AM) with 12.8%, Aracaju (SE) and Belém ( PA), both with 12.2%.

The unemployment rate is higher among women, reaching around 4.52% in Campo Grande, while for men the rate is 2.53%. This gender difference is a reflection of a national situation, in which the unemployment rate for Brazilian women is 10.79%, while for Brazilians it is 7.24%.

The favorable figures for Campo Grande also place the city below the state average for unemployment, which was 4.8% according to the IBGE. In addition, the unemployment rate in the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul is lower than in countries such as Canada, Australia and the United States.

Mayor Adriane Lopes (Patriota) highlighted the feat achieved by the city and attributed Campo Grande as the “Capital of Opportunities”. “We are becoming a center for growth and generation of new business. Last year, we increased the number of active companies by more than 10 thousand and we continue to grow”.

According to the survey, Campo Grande has 743,000 people of working age, with 498,000 in the workforce. This workforce includes people of working age (14 years or older) who are employed or looking for employment.

These data reinforce the panorama of economic growth that Campo Grande has been experiencing in the post-pandemic period. Since July 2020, more than 34,000 new formal jobs have been created in the city. In the first quarter of 2023 alone, 2,558 new jobs were generated, with emphasis on the service, civil construction and industry sectors.

The numbers also indicate that 17,000 people are unemployed, while 39,000 are underemployed. The underutilization of the workforce encompasses the unemployed, those in the potential workforce and those underemployed due to insufficient hours. The workforce underutilization rate is the percentage that underutilization represents within the expanded workforce, which includes the people in the workforce plus the potential workforce. All these numbers are below the pre-pandemic period.

The economist and superintendent of Industry, Commerce, Services and Foreign Trade at Sidagro, José Eduardo Corrêa dos Santos, points out that the 3.4% index may indicate a situation of full employment: “Full employment is known as the highest degree of the use of the productive forces of the economy, mainly in the use of work”.

“This process is possible for an economy in constant expansion. This scenario is considered in macroeconomics when all the workforce, qualified or not, can be employed due to the great impulse that leaves the economy in balance. Full employment does not mean that unemployment is zero, but that it reaches a satisfactorily low level”.

Comparing the data with the fourth quarter of 2022, there is an increase of 0.3 percentage points in the unemployment rate, indicating a seasonal movement due to layoffs that normally occur at the end of each year, with reduced demand in trade during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The municipal secretary of Innovation, Economic Development and Agribusiness, Adelaido Vila, highlights the success of the measures implemented by the current municipal administration to strengthen the economy. “The data is yet another proof that Campo Grande is the Capital of Opportunities. We have been working hard, both in internal and external relations, transforming Campo Grande into a great logistical hub for countries wishing to enter Brazil, as well as for the states Brazilians who wish to export their products”.