Brazil unemployment hits new low of 5.2pc: official

BRASILIA: Brazil's unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent in November, the lowest level since the specific measurement began in 2002, the official statistics bureau said Thursday.

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said unemployment was down from 5.8 percent in October and 5.7 percent in November 2010, despite zero economic growth in the third quarter of this year.

Before November, the lowest unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in December 2010 and the high was 6.5 percent in March of this year.

The IBGE measures unemployment in six major metropolitan areas.

Brazil's economy stalled earlier this year as the full force of the European debt crisis hit the South American giant, bringing year-on-year expansion down to 2.1 percent, compared to the stellar 7.5 percent growth seen in 2010.

Earlier this month the government revised down its growth projections to 3.5 percent for the year, but market analysts are taking a glummer view, forecasting growth by the end of the year closer to three percent.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011