The fear of unemployment fell to 65.7 points in December 2017 and was 2 points below the rate recorded in September. Even so, it remains well above the historical average, which is 48.8 points. This indicates that signs of recovery of the economy are still insufficient to remove the insecurity of Brazilians in relation to employment, according to the survey released Friday by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI).

"Compared with December 2016, the fear of unemployment index showed a rise of 0.9 points, indicating persistence of insecurity in relation to the recovery of the labor market", says the CNI. "Employees react only when they have some assurance that growth will be sustained because they bear the cost of hiring and training new workers and with the costs of resignation if the economy recovers does not hold up, "explains CNI economist Maria Carolina Marques.

"The population perceives the delay in the labor market reaction and still has some anxiety about the stability of employment. As economic growth is sustained, the result in employment must appear with greater intensity and the fear of unemployment must give way ", completes Maria Carolina.

The survey also shows that life satisfaction has declined between September and December of last year. The index of satisfaction with life reached 65.6 points in December, 0.4 point lower than in September and lower than the historical average, which is 69.9 points. The indicator was 1.2 percentage points lower than in December 2016.

The survey was conducted between 7 and 10 December 2017 with 2,000 people in 127 municipalities.