Brazil unemployment rises to new high

Brazil's unemployment rate rose to a new high from September to November, official data showed Thursday, the latest sign the recession-hit Latin American giant has still not entered recovery.

The figure came in at 11.9 percent, the highest level registered since the current data set began in 2012, the national statistics institute IBGE said.

In the earlier three months to October, the figure reached 11.8 percent -- the previous high.

A total of 12.1 million Brazilian workers are now unemployed, three million more than a year ago.

Brazil's economy, Latin America's largest, is struggling through its worst recession in more than a century.

Economists predict the employment picture will continue to worsen until at least mid-2017 despite the austerity reforms center-right President Michel Temer has launched in a bid to get the economy back on track.

The central bank predicts a return to economic growth of 0.8 percent next year after two years of deep recession. Temer, whose popularity is hovering at a low 10 percent, sought to sound upbeat over Brazil's prospects in 2017.

"It will be a new year, and we will defeat this crisis," he said at his last news conference of the year.

"As we defeat the crisis and exit recession... naturally we will have jobs."