By Susana Lima

The Brazilian government reported that during 2011, the unemployment rate was 6% between the economically active population, the lowest rate since 2002.

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said that in contrast to 2010, the unemployment fell 0.8 percentage points last year.

In Brazil, unemployment was 4.7 percent in December, half a point less than in November and 0.6 points lower than shown during December 2010.

The IBGE unemployment estimates are based on the number of citizens seeking a job in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Salvador and Recife the six main cities of the nation, so it excludes from the calculation the informal sector of the economy.

According to this entity compared to 2011, there were on average 1.4 million
unemployed, 10.4 percent less than last year, which means a decrease in 166.000 jobseekers.

On the other hand, the number of people who acquired occupancy increased by 2.1 percent to total 22.5 million individuals.

The purchasing power of Brazilian workers last year grew 2.7 percent from
2010, and averaged actual 1625.46 reales a month (about $ 908 today).