Brazil to publish formal jobs data on Wednesday after several months’ hiatus

(C) Reuters.

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil will on Wednesday publish monthly formal jobs figures, known locally as the CAGED repot, for the first four months of this year, the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday.

The release of the January-April data follows a hiatus after the ministry said in March that publication had been halted because companies were having difficulties providing accurate and up-to-date information. CAGED is an acronym that refers to the general register of employed and unemployed people.

The last published CAGED figures were for December, which showed net job losses in the month but an increase of 644,079 over the course of 2019, the best year for job growth in Latin America’s largest economy since 2013.

The coronavirus crisis is likely to have had a heavy influence on March and April’s numbers.

The latest official figures show that the unemployment rate in the three months to March jumped to 12.2%, while formal unemployment insurance claims in the first two weeks of May were up 76.2% from the same period a year earlier.