Net formal employment creation in Brazil was a record during 2021

Brazil added 2.7 million net formal jobs in 2021, the best year-on-year figure since the data series began in 2010, benefiting from an expansion of the service sector, after being hit hard by coronavirus mobility restrictions to contain.

There were job offers in the five sectors covered by the Ministry of Labor, the adjusted and published official figures showed, led by 1.22 million jobs generated in the service sector.

Labor Minister Onyx Lorenzoni in a press conference attributed the strong job creation to the measures taken by the federal government during the Covid-19 crisis.

In December, traditionally a negative month for job creation in Latin America’s largest economy, Brazil lost 265,811 net formal jobs, above expectations of a net loss of 162,000 jobs, according to a Reuters poll.

According to the ministry, the total number of formally registered workers in Brazil decreased by 0.64% in December from the previous month, to 41.29 million. The country had a gain in positions in the labor market of 7.1% throughout the year.

However, the salary situation deteriorated, with the average monthly salary for new jobs created in December being 6.1% lower than the previous year, at 1,793 reais ($ 333.46). The figures do not include the nearly 40 million workers who do not have a formal employment record.

In 2020, the New General Register of Employees and Unemployed (Caged) underwent methodological changes and experts point out that it is not appropriate to compare the current data with the previous historical series, which extends to 2019. According to Caged data, in December jobs in four of the five sectors of the economy.

Last month, the balance was negative for agriculture (26 073), general industry (92 047), construction (52 033) and services (104 670). The exception was trade, with the opening of 9,013 service stations.

In 2021, all sectors performed positively: agriculture (140,927), general industry (475,141), construction (244,755), services (1,226,026) and trade (643,754). The five regions of the country had negative employment balances in December. In addition, the country has created 6,735 jobs. (with information from Valor / Brazil)