Although the unemployment rate remains low, at 5%, analysts expect layoffs to increase in the months to come. Brazil's economy is technically in recession -- its GDP fell in the last two quarters -- and the IMF predicts only 0.3% growth in 2014.

Members of Rouseff's PT party were convicted and jailed for illegal campaign funding and the bribing of Congressmen. And a new (and still ongoing) corruption scandal at the heart of Petrobras, the Brazilian state oil company, hit the government at its core. Poor economic data and sleaze are issues that tend to shock and concern the better-off and well-educated, mainly located in the south of Brazil, where Aecio Neves performed very well. In the State of Sao Paulo, the richest and most populated, he got 64% of the vote.

Massive street protests, a stalled economy, corruption; Dilma Rousseff survived it all -- just. Her main tasks now are to unite a divided nation, find a way of making Brazil's economy grow again, bring down an inflation rate that is stubbornly high (6.75%) and change something. The Brazilian President knows that she has not won this contest because of what she's promised to do in the future, as she didn't even present a formal plan for her second term. She's won because of the past, and the future is still being planned.

In opinion polls, 70% of Brazilians have repeatedly said they wanted change in the federal government. Unsure about how to achieve that, they decided to close their eyes, keep things as they are and hope for the best.

Rogério Simões is a Brazilian journalist, former Head of the BBC's Brazilian Service and former Executive Editor at Epoca magazine. He is based in London. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely his. The complete text can be found at  CNN, clicking here .