common and occur throughout the winter, for up to 20 days a year. The average rainfall is high, at around per year. Economy Since 2000, the GDP has growth over 7.5% annually. Unemployment has dropped from 11% of its 35,000 economically active people to somewhat over 6% as of 2006. For the last three years, the city was proportionally ranked first (and generally no lower than fifth) in job-creation throughout the state of Paraná. Culture Most inhabitants are descendants of Italian and German immigrants, who first lived in the southern states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina before coming to the region between the 1940s and the 1960s. According to some researchers, 50% of population descends from Italian immigrants while 15% are descendants of German immigrants. These proportions are likely to decrease as young people move around Brazil and northern Brazilian residents move to this city. References