Brazil's unemployment rate falls

Brazil's jobless rate fell in July to the lowest level since December, underscoring the labour market's resilience despite an economic slowdown. The unemployment rate fell to 6.0 percent in July, the government's statistics agency IBGE said on Thursday, down from a previously reported 6.2 percent in June.
Joblessness had been expected to remain unchanged at 6.2 percent, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Reuters. Estimates ranged from 6.1 percent to 6.4 percent. The July jobless rate was the lowest on record for the month since at least 2002 and monthly unemployment continued running below its year-ago rate for the 19th consecutive month.
In July, the number of Brazilians with jobs in the six major metropolitan areas surveyed edged up 0.4 percent to 22.48 million people, rising 2.1 percent from July 2010, the IBGE said. The tally of people who unsuccessfully looked for work fell 2.2 percent in July from June 1.44 million, down 12.2 percent from a year earlier. Last year torrid economic growth pushed Brazil's unemployment rate as low as 5.3 percent in December, boosting wages and pressuring inflation to six-year highs. Real wages, or salaries discounted for inflation, rose 2.2 percent month-on-month to 1,612.90 reais ($1,002) and gained 4 percent from the year-earlier month.