Bloomberg — Brazil’s jobless rate fell for the fourth-straight month, adding to a streak of labor-market gains ahead of October’s presidential elections.
Official data released on Friday showed unemployment tumbled to 9.3% in the three months ending in June, matching the median estimate from economists in a Bloomberg survey. It was the lowest since late 2015.
President Jair Bolsonaro has rushed to reinvigorate Latin America’s largest economy and close the gap behind his main election challenger, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Despite strong job growth in the first half of the year, workers are being squeezed by high borrowing costs and inflation that’s above 11%.
In recent weeks, the far-right president backed measures to lower fuel costs, while congress approved a multi-billion dollar aid package that expands cash payouts for the poor. So far, though, the measures have yet to significantly boost Bolsonaro’s standing in major opinion polls.
The number of employed people stood at 98.3 million, representing the highest in the data series going back to 2012, according to the statistics institute.
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