Since Brazil entered recession at the end of 2014, salary rises have struggled to keep up with inflation. In 2012 only 1.4% of salary adjustments were less than the inflation rate, whereas the relevant number for 2016 stands at 36.7%. In 2016, just under half of all (44.4%) wage agreements adjusted salary levels to match inflation. These data result from Brazil’s Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socio-Economic Studies (DIEESE) body that is linked to the country’s main central trade unions.
The DIEESE studied more than 700 conventions and collective agreements and observes that since 2015 unions are struggling to secure salaries that match or beat inflation. In 2016, only 18.9% of agreements secured wages above inflation as compared with 91.5% just two years earlier in 2014.
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