the informal grows while the formal declines

Brazil's informal economy grew 11 percent in January 2009 compared to 2008 levels. At the same time, the formal economy lost 1.6 percent of its regular formal jobs. Since October, the number of informal workers grew by 14.2 percent to 709,000. These are some of the stats from a new Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics report. The Latin American Herald Tribune offers brief coverage.