UPDATE 1-Brazil's jobless rate drops to 11.6% in quarter through November
(Adds data and context)
BRASILIA, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Brazil's jobless rate fell to 11.6% in the three months through November, statistics agency IBGE said on Friday, the lowest level since the quarter ended in January 2020, benefiting from an increase in jobs over the holiday season.
Brazil's official unemployment rate went down from 13.1% in the June to August period and dropped 2.8 percentage points year on year.
The coordinator of Work and Income at IBGE, Adriana Beringuy, said the result continues the recovery in the job market seen in recent quarters and may be reflecting end-of-year seasonality, when activities related mainly to commerce and services tend to increase hirings.
IBGE said that 12.4 million people were out of a job, 1.5 million less than in the quarter ending in August and 14.5% lower than a year ago.
After mass vaccination gained traction in Latin America's largest economy, officials at the Ministry of Economy expected an improvement in the job market for 2022, with positive effects spilling over into economic activity.
Despite this, the outlook for the economy continues to deteriorate, according to market economists, as Brazil struggles with the consequences of an aggressive cycle of monetary tightening to fight double-digit inflation in the country.
Amid an expansion of work mainly occurring in lower-income occupations, the average compensation of Brazilian workers fell to 2,444 reais ($451.62), the lowest figure ever recorded in the historical series of the survey, which began in 2012. ($1 = 5.4116 reais) (Reporting by Marcela Ayres; editing by Jason Neely and Chizu Nomiyama)
