Brasilia, Jul 1 (IANS): Brazil's unemployment rate reached a record 14.7 per cent in the three months ending in April, meaning 14.8 million people were jobless, the state-run Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said.

According to the report issued on Wednesday, unemployment in the South American country increased 0.4 percentage points between February and April of this year compared to the previous three months (November 2020 to January 2021), and rose 2.1 percentage points year on year, reports Xinhua news agency.

The figure of 14.8 million unemployed means 3.4 per cent more people (489,000) were jobless compared to November-January, and 15.2 per cent more people (1.9 million) were unemployed compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the informality rate reached 39.8 per cent of the employed population, equivalent to some 34.2 million people.

The average income of Brazilian workers between February and April remained steady at 2,532 reais ($512).

Record unemployment reflects the strong impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Brazil's economy, one of the hardest hit in the world.

Despite that, the financial market forecasts the Brazilian economy will grow 5.05 per cent in 2021.