RIO DE JANEIRO: Virus-hit Brazil's unemployment rate rose to 13.3 percent in the April-June quarter, its highest in three years, according to official figures released Thursday that show 8.9 million jobs lost during the period due to the pandemic.

The figure represents a rise of 1.1 percentage points over the previous quarter, and is the highest since the March-May 2017 quarter, when it was also 13.3 percent, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

The institute said 12.8 million people are looking for work in Latin America's biggest economy.

On Wednesday the Central Bank lowered its key rate by 0.25 points to two percent, a new historic low, in an attempt to revive the economy as the death toll from the virus approaches 100,000 in Brazil.

Industrial production fell by 10.9 percent in the first half of the year compared with the first six months of 2019, despite a sharp 8.9 percent rebound in June.

Analysts consulted by the Central Bank's weekly Focus survey expect GDP to contract by 5.66 percent this year, a forecast that is less pessimistic than a month ago, when it was 6.5 percent.