Brasilia, July 4 (RHC)-- The rate of unemployment in Brazil is rising with over three million Brazilians reported still without work after at least two years, new data from the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea) reveals.

Using information from the National Continuous Household Sample Survey (PNAD/IBGE) and the General Register of Employed and Unemployed (Caged), since January 2019, the rate of unemployment rose 24.8 percent, seven percent more than was registered in 2015. Some 3.3 million have been unemployed since 2017.

"The Brazilian labor market remains very deteriorated, permeated by large numbers of unemployed, discouraged and underemployed," Caged reported.

According to the study, Brazil’s current economic state significantly contributes to the continuous drop in employment opportunities and formal work contracts. Women, adults over the age of 40, and those without higher education have a higher chance of losing their jobs, the institution warned.

"The situation of young people is concerning, given the available evidence per statistics that a period of unemployment at the beginning of the professional career can be trajectory, even in the medium and long term," Ipea said, discouraging the younger 18-24 year-olds from giving up hope of finding employment.

Young graduates constitute 26.3 percent of the total number of unemployed workers and the younger generations are at the highest risk. The agency predicted these groups’ blooming careers would be among the “hardest hit” amid the current crisis.

From November to 2017 to April 2019, of the 507,140 job openings, only 58,630 were intermittent work contracts and 19,765 were part-time opportunities. The majority of these were filled by young workers up to the age of 29 who had completed their secondary education.

The report proceeded to say that the lack of professional experience or qualifications in their field or in the region and their age could be preventing workers from landing a job or a permanent contract.