RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's unemployment rate declined to 5.4 percent in the quarter ending in October, hitting a record low since 2012, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics said Friday.

According to the report, this rate fell by 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter and by 0.7 percentage points from a year earlier.

The employment rate stood at 58.8 percent, mainly driven by the increasing employed population in construction, public administration, defense, education, health and social services, while the employment rate in other services declined.

Meanwhile, the average income in Brazil during the same period also hit a record high, amounting to 3,528 reais (about 660 U.S. dollars). ■