Brazil's unemployment rate stood at 5.2% in the third quarter of 2026, the lowest level recorded for that stretch of the year since the series began in 2012. The figure was released on Friday (30) by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE, the national statistics institute), in its continuous household survey, the Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios Contínua (Pnad Contínua).
The rate had been 5.4% in the second quarter and 5.6% in the same quarter of 2025. In absolute terms, the country had 5.6 million people out of work — 234,000 fewer than three months earlier, a 4% drop, and 417,000 fewer than a year before, a decline of 6.9%.
Employment at a record level
The employed population reached 103.6 million people, the largest on record. That is 581,000 more over the quarter (up 0.6%) and 1.2 million more over the year (up 1.2%).
The employment rate — the share of the working-age population actually in work — rose to 59%, also a record. It was 58.8% in the second quarter and 58.7% a year earlier.
The combination of the two indicators is what sets this result apart from other falls in unemployment: the rate did not drop because people stopped looking for work, but because more people are in jobs.
Informality did not budge
The informality rate stood at 37.5% of those employed, or 38.8 million workers. It was 37.4% (38.6 million) in the previous quarter and 37.8% (38.7 million) a year earlier — essentially flat, even as employment grew.
The categories behind that picture barely moved either:
- 39.4 million private-sector employees with a formal contract, excluding domestic workers;
- 13.7 million private-sector employees without a formal contract;
- 26.1 million self-employed workers;
- 5.4 million domestic workers.
Income up over the year, flat over the quarter
Average real usual income from all jobs was R$ 3,790, unchanged from the second quarter and 3.6% higher than a year earlier — a gain of R$ 131.
The total real usual income mass, which adds up everything the employed receive, reached R$ 387.5 billion, a record for the series. It rose 1.5% over the quarter (R$ 5.6 billion more) and 4.7% over the year (R$ 17.5 billion more).
The picture is of a labour market still absorbing workers, with total income expanding on the back of the number of people in jobs rather than individual pay, which stalled over the quarter.
With information from Agência Brasil and Correio Braziliense, based on IBGE's Pnad Contínua data.
