Brazil's jobless rate hit another consecutive record, with more than 14 million people out of work, government statistics showed Friday. The quarterly jobless rate covering January through March was 13.7 percent, up from 13.2 percent in the last quarter, which itself showed a rise of half a point from the previous quarter.

The increase in the numbers of the unemployed was 14.2 percent, adding more than 1.8 million people, the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE) said. The rising unemployment rate mirrors Brazil's struggle to exit a two-year recession. Unpopular President Michel Temer says that austerity reforms are needed to hoist the economy out of its prolonged slump, but leftwing opposition is growing.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017