Sao Paulo (CNN) Nearly eight million people in Brazil have lost work due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to new figures released by the country's statistics agency Tuesday. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IGBE, released its report for the trimester showing that a record 7.8 million people lost work in country. The institute put the figure of people who are still working in Brazil at the end of May at just 49.5%. Since data collection started in 2012, "this had never happened," IGBE analyst Adriana Beringuy said in a statement. "This means that less than half of the working age population is working," Beringuy added.

Source: CNN June 30, 2020 21:22 UTC