Amazon States in Brazil record the lowest unemployment rate in history

By Ana Pastana – From Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – Six of the nine states that make up the Legal Amazon recorded, in 2024, the lowest unemployment rate in their historical annual average, according to the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Pnad Contínua) from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), referring to the fourth quarter of 2024. Mato Grosso, Tocantins, and Acre lead the list.

According to Pnad data, the country’s annual average rate dropped from 7.8% in 2023 to 6.6% in 2024. According to IBGE, this is the lowest annual average in the historical series since 2012, when the survey began.

The research indicates that in 14 federal units, the annual average unemployment rate for 2024 was the lowest in the historical series. Of this total, six are states located in the Legal Amazon region: Mato Grosso (2.6%), Tocantins (5.5%), Acre (6.4%), Maranhão (7.1%), Amapá (8.3%), and Amazonas (8.4%).

Legal Amazon States That Recorded the Lowest Unemployment Rate in the Historical Series

Furthermore, according to the survey, the lowest annual average unemployment rates were recorded in the state of Mato Grosso, at 2.6%, and Rondônia, at 3.3%. Following them are Tocantins, at 5.5%; Acre, at 6.4%; Maranhão, at 7.1%; Pará, at 7.2%; Roraima, at 7.5%; Amapá, at 8.3%; and Amazonas, at 8.4%.

Informality

The national annual average informality rate was 39.0% of the employed population. Overall, the highest annual averages recorded in the states of the Legal Amazon were in Pará, which appears with 58.1%, and Maranhão, with 55.3%. Amazonas ranks third, with 53.8%, followed by Amapá, with 47.9%; Roraima, with 47.8%; Alagoas, with 46.9%; Acre, with 46.1%; Rondônia, with 45.9%; Tocantins, with 44.1%; and Mato Grosso, with 32.9%.

The national annual average employment level reached 58.6% in 2024. The highest percentages for this indicator were presented by Mato Grosso, with 68.4%, Tocantins, with 60.4%, and Roraima, with 58.7%. Below the national average were Rondônia, with 57.6%; Pará, with 56.5%; Amapá, with 56.1%; Amazonas, with 55.9%; Acre, with 48.7%; and Maranhão, with 47.3%. The employment level is the proportion of employed people within the population aged 14 or older.

The annual average real habitual income – the average gross real income that people receive from all jobs – reached R$ 3,255. Maranhão recorded the lowest income, at R$ 2,049. Pará follows, with R$ 2,268; Amazonas, with R$ 2,293; Acre, with R$ 2,563; Tocantins, with R$ 2,786; Roraima, with R$ 2,823; Amapá, with R$ 2,851; Rondônia, with R$ 3,011; and Mato Grosso, with the highest rate, at R$ 3,510.

Translated from Portuguese by Gustô Alves